All Request Friday: Why I Like the Pro Sports Teams I Like

AJ wonders what a lot of people wonder about me, namely why on earth my "big 3" favorite sports teams are the Boston Celtics, New York Yankees, and now the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Boston Celtics are easy.  How could anyone living in New England not like the C's growing up as a kid in the 1980s?  That was the golden era for NBA hoops, and I was a Larry Bird fan.  Those NBA finals were Magic and the Lakers would face off against Bird and the C's were priceless.

So how is it I root for the Yankees?  I don't have concrete evidence on this one, just theories.  The prevailing theory is that my mom's side of the family, all New Yorkers and all die-hard Yanks fans, got to me at an early age.  I just always remember being a Yankees fan.  And as much as people hate me on this one, I do indeed remember watching the World Series in 1978, when I was 2 or so.  I do.  My babysitter was hooking up with her boyfriend on the couch and I was plopped in front of the TV.  I may have been brainwashed.  But whatever the reason, thank god.  I couldn't live with myself rooting for a perennial loser year in and year out as 99% of New Englanders do in cheering for the Bo Sox.  1918.  (Damn, it really is different now.)

Football is actually a touching story.  When I was in 3rd grade, I started playing flag football.  I was a running back, loved running with the ball.  Well I have another distinct memory of watching Super Bowl Whatever where the Los Angeles Raiders just smoked the Washington Redskins, 38-9, I believe.  The MVP of that game was Raiders running back Marcus Allen.  He just ran all over the world that day.  Apparently I was just screaming like a madman every time he would touch the ball.  The very next day at school I sat down and wrote him a letter, and I can still see my shaky penmanship:

Dear Marcus Allen,

I think you are the best football player in the world.  I am a running back and I want to be just like you.  I watched you in the Super Bowl and you were awesome.  Someday I want to be a running back in the NFL just like you.  My favorite team is the LOS ANGELES RAIDERS.

[Slice]

Well wouldn't you know it.  About a month later I get this big envelope in the mail from the Los Angeles Raiders home base in El Segundo, California.  I think there was a team photo by what just made me melt was a black and white print of Marcus Allen in action, with the following written in blue marker:

Richard,

Be the best.

/s/ Marcus Allen

And there you have it.  From that point on, I loved the Los Angeles Raiders.  Allen ended up getting traded to the Kansas City Chiefs towards the end of his career, and I guess my allegience was so strong to the Silver and Black that I just stuck with them.  But my enthusiam for the team has wanted over the past few years.  As a west coast team, I hardly ever get to see them play.  And, they've sucked.  I've been going to Jets games the past few years, and there is no better sporting atmosphere, in my opinion, than an NFL football tailgater.  Nothing.  Hands down the best party going on earth.  It's just such a fun atmosphere.  And, put 12 or so Miller Lites in me before 1:00 p.m. and I'm, um, happy.  So I get into it.  Big time.  I get rowdy, I dress up in Jets colors and just go nuts during the game.  Some of my most favorite times.  (And the Jets are 3-0 with me in the stands.)

So a year or so ago I was really rooting for the Jets, but the Raiders were still my team.  And I've been going to a Bengals game for the past 3 years, all good times as well.

Here is why I am required to be a Bengals fan now, and I am a believer in my calling.  Two years ago the Bengals game I went to was when they played the Kansas City Chiefs.  At that point in the season, the Bengals were 4-4 or something, and KC was 9-0.  And so my buddy in Cincy arrive at the tailgater and he's got this rubbery foam Bengalhead that he asked me to wear.  I didn't think twice.  Nor did the Bengal paw mittens I wore bother me either.  And the Bengals whooped KC's ass that day, and the joke was that it was because I came into town and ran around the parking lot and stadium wearing a Bengalhead.

Fast forward to this year.  I got to the Bengals vs. Broncos Monday Night game in Cincy.  First Monday night game in Cincy in something like 14 years.  The Bengals are 1-4 and just blow.  The Broncos are in first place and look tough.  Everyone and their mother picked the Broncos to win.  I show up, throw on the Bengalhead, and the Bengals just destroy the Broncos, 23-10.  And now my legend is growing.  People are starting to believe in the powers of the Bengalhead and what a visit from yours truly to Cincinnati for a game can do.  So now I'm a Bengals fan, and I love it.

Comments

[AJ]

//I couldn't live with myself rooting for a perennial loser year in and year out as 99% of New Englanders do in cheering for the Bo Sox.//

Nice try. In one breath you say that, in the next you say you're a Bengals fan. The two do not compute.

Maybe it is because you, like many Yankee fans, just can't seem to accept the fact that Boston has more heart and soul than New York.

You heard me.

[Rich]

Not surprised I write a nice piece about my love for certain pro sports teams and a Sox fan latches on to one off the cuff remark and gets the comment thread started with negativity. One word: predictible.

The Bengals are not a perennial loser. The Sox are. Computes perfectly fine with me thank you very much.

If heart and soul is calculated based on the number of annoying fans a team has, yeah, absolutely. The Sox have way way more heart and soul than the Yankees.

If, however, heart and soul is determined by the number of championship trophies a team has in the display case, well, you see where I'm going with this.

[AJ]

See - you (and other Yankee fans) just DON'T GET IT. You equate heart & soul with championship trophies? Since when do material goods have ANYTHING to do with heart & soul? My conclusion? Yankee fans=heartless, per your own equation.

And, since professional football's inception, the Bengals have only won 2 titles. The Sox have won 6. Your reasoning that they aren't perennial losers is what exactly?

[AJ]

To clarify - they have won 2 AFC titles, but nary a Superbowl...so never having won the big game, I still wonder how you feel they aren't perennial losers....

[AJ]

Oh yeah - one more thing - three words - took the bait....(yes, in some ways I feel I may actually be trying to get banned over here...work isn't going to be slow forever....)

I'm away next week, so enjoy bloggers.....

[Rich]

Three separate comments to spew a whole lot of nothin'.

Wow. The Sox may actually be above the Bengals, an NFL team, on the pecking order. Dear god stop the press.

Good thing the rules are lax over here.

[Jogger]

AJ, enjoy ther week off, hopefully I can fill in (big shoes to fill). Hope I can have a brew with you sometime at Nectar's.

[folkgirl]

Oh, don't worry. I've got Aj's back on this front too...? wait, did that make sense?
I guess I don't understand why baseball fans need those other filler sports? One team, one sport, all I need. GO SOX!