Sports Teams

A LONELY BAR IN DC -- my dad was never a huge sports fan. he enjoys athletic things - a remember playing badminton in the backyard (so Asian) - but he never followed pro sports and didn't go to a big college. until senior year of high school, the only sporting event that i had been to was to see the Chattanooga Lookouts, my home town's minor league team, so i had to fend for myself through the hardwood battles and turf wars called American sport, so my favorite sports teams may seem old. i mean what is a guy from Tennessee doing rooting for the Braves, Tarheels, Lakers, and Cowboys? sure, the easy answer is that i may be a front runner because it doesn't seem like i have any direct connection to these teams, but that doesn't mean that i haven’t stayed loyal or rooted any less hard for my teams. also, i thought that front runners only rooted for the championship teams of the time, and that was definitely not the case throughout the late 90's - the time i started rooting for them.

let's start with an easy one: the Atlanta Braves. Chatt Town is on the southeast corner of TN, so i only live about an hour and a half from Atlanta. the Braves have been the loveable losers for the longest time. although absolutely embarrassing the NL East for almost a decade, all the Braves had to show was one championship (but still one more than the Phillies & Mets), and chicks dig the long ball.

the north carolina tarheels - home of michael jordan...and more impressively 3 time champion rick fox. their dominance hit a big road block after the power trio of antawn jamison, vince carter, and brendan haywood and went into a major trio - chris lang still haunts my dreams. of course, the end of the 90's saw the rise of Duke's power. i thought Steve Wojciechowski was the most annoying player of all time...until j.j. redick came along. i think what really made me root for UNC through those terrible years was the fact that Duke was so good. I HATE DUKE...more than any other sports team - maybe tied with michigan. also in high school, i dated this girl whose parents went to Duke, so i would come over to her house to watch UNC-Duke games and be the only UNC fan, so I had to stay strong. college has come and almost gone for me though, so i am conceding a school that i do not have an association with. as for college basketball, i will root for Tennessee and George Washington, and will always…always…always…root against Duke.

the Lakers have perhaps been my longest stretch. i really love the Lakers because of Kobe Bryant. i always thought that he was next in line to MJ, but i think the best thing about his persona is that he's a flawed hero. he's selfish, cocky, and likes a little cut on rehab trips. he's always been an introvert, and i identified with that. also his coming of age from sidekick to Laker's front man is something that everyone can understand. another reason, i'm a Lakers fan is that i have an "8 degrees of Kevin Bacon" connection to the franchise. Julie Pollard, a girl i went to high school with, has a grandfather, Jim Pollard, who played on the first NBA dynasty with George Mikan. this all came to fruition during the final year of the three-peat when the Pollards where flown out to LA to meet all of the great Lakers. Julie brought be back a very special souvenir. in a glass case in my room in Chatt Town, i have a basketball with the signatures of George Mikan, Vern Mikkelson, Jim Pollard, Arnie Ferrin, and Slater Martin, the starters of the Laker franchise - also Magic and Worthy. i used to work at this framing shop at home, and so i also made this frames poster with the 5 postcards of each player, so when i get my own place, i've got a shrine ready to christen the place.

the Cowboys were "american's team," winning 3 championships in the early to mid 90's, but every dynasty's run eventually ends, leaving the team to rebuild. well the cowboys did just that through the first few years of my devotion. i had to keep the faith through quincy carter...chad hutchinson...drew bledsoe........ryan leaf, but i still rooted for them. my love for the cowboys also become stronger in college because the punishers love the NFC East...Eagles and Giants. so as each week presented a different NFC east battle, my voice and devotion to the cowboys became stronger. i love Barber - so happy he wasn't traded - and T.O. is from Chatt Town, but i understand that i chose to love them. the helmets in football encourage love for the uniform and not the number on the jersey, and it's time to give up Big D. i will always support them, especially in the NFC East, but i think it's time to focus on the Tennessee Titans - even though I followed the Cowboys BEFORE the Oilers moved to Nashville.

-Tenn
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