Favorite Pro Teams Part 2: The Reason Why I Selected This Mix of Teams

Boston Red Socks:
It will not be long now until every Major League team will be back on the diamond playing games that really count. This photo was down loaded from photo Flicker website. photo Attribution Some rights reserved by Keith Allison.

This column has been brewing for  months now, ever since  the National Football League playoffs began this past season, after a Facebook message exchange with a friend who is a(Seattle native  and die-hard Seahawks fan). We were having a conversation about who might make the playoffs. As we were chatting about the Patriots and Steelers potentially colliding in the playoffs, my good friend suddenly said, “At least if my Steelers lose, I’ll be happy for you, because the Pats made it.”

The above communication gave me the idea of my last post  of selecting a few of my favorite professional teams. But before I get into my reasons for selecting this unseal mix of favorite teams, let me define what a die-hard, faithful fan is to me.

My definition of a loyal and faithful sports fan is one who roots for his or her favorite team no matter what the outcome of the game is. Someone does not jump off the team bandwagon because of a loss or poor season. The true and faithful sports fans stands behind their favorite teams with support of that team’s efforts no matter what occurs during the season. Now that does not mean that a die-hard sports fan does not watch other teams because I certainly do watch other teams besides my list of favorite teams.

Just like any sports fan out there I love to root for a winner. But my most favorite kind of team to root for is the underdog teams. There are both winning and underdog teams on my favorite pro team list. I love rooting for the underdog team because when these teams do well, it comes as a surprise to the majority of fans but not me.

As a person who was born into a military  family and raised all over including some foreign countries, I have had the time and opportunity to see many different sports and teams.

Despite having a rollercoaster year with  injuries to key players like Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant, two players who play a major role on the floor for the Los Angles Lakers organization. The Lakers still remain my all-time favorite in the (National Basketball Association)NBA. If I had to pick only one team as my favorite professional team this would be the team.

The Lakers are a favorite of mine because of their style of play on the floor. The team plays a fast-pace game that pushes the basketball up the floor to score quickly on the competition. But when need be, the loveable purple and gold can slow a game down and play defense when required. They also have players who can take over a game when needed and make sure the basketball is distributed to the right players to get the scoring needed for a victory.

As a young child I also grew-up admiring Ervin “Magic” Johnson in my b-ball game, wishing and dreaming I could play the game just like him. He has also been a role model of mine since my younger days as an athlete and he still serves as that role for me today. Over time Magic Johnson has shown me that he has a very human side to him and has made mistakes in his life. The honesty about the errors of his ways  has  made me really admire the man. With his basketball career behind him Johnson  has grown into a successful business man but not without a few bad business  decisions in his early business startup days due to some bad advice he was given.

But I enjoyed watching the Dallas Stars because of the speed  and action in the game. As the local hockey team it was easy to become a fan due to the community involvement and projects the Stars had going on in Dallas and surrounding communities. But I could do without the fights and violence during an NHL game. Some players and fans say the fighting makes the game safer for the players but this fan just can’t see the reasoning in that fact.

I like the Stars because of there lunch pal approach to hockey. The boys come in and play hard every game for their fans and as a fan I appreciate that approach in the game. The players are all very approachable in the Dallas community when you see them out in public while they believe in giving back to the community and league in which they all play in.

With the opening of spring training for Major league baseball it will be exciting for this fan to see the Boston Reds Socks back on the diamond come opening day.

This organization is a fun team to be a fan of because they often get off to a slow start and come on strong  in September and October. But this season should be different as some changes in the roster were made during the off-season. The farm system of the Red Socks are strong and healthy, as the media has reported that some Boston minor leaguers will see playing time at the major league level before the season is completed.

New York is a great sports city  divided by two NFL clubs, the NY Jets and the NY Giants.  A fan in the Big Apple is usually either a Jets or Giants fan but very seldom a fan of both teams.

I have been a Jets fan what seems like forever because I love supporting the underdog team. In the early days of my elementary education a neighbor of mine claimed I looked a lot like Joe “Willie” Namath, the Jets Hall of Fame quarterback. The truth was I did back then with the way I grew my hair.

The real reason I like the Jets is Head Coach Rex Ryan. He has his own way of doing things with this organization. This fan likes Ryan because he says what he thinks to both his team and the media. The head coach always tells his team to play like champions and go hard until you hear the wistle being blown by the referee.

The local fans love and support both their team and head coaches. The Jets have a strong  fan base and fans spend a ton of money supporting this team.

I understand that my selection of favorite professional teams makes for an unusual mix  for some blog followers. But to me the selection of these teams make perfect sense. I enjoy being different when it comes to my choices of sports teams. Being a little different makes life interesting for me. So I hope this post clears up why I picked the teams in my last post as my favorite teams.  If not feel free to contact me and I will be happy to clear up any questions on the issue you might have. All comments are welcome here, good or bad.