WW wrote:The event stands, or falls, by it's (sic) own merit.
Exactly. The event has now now become a bloated corporate bacchanal, celebrating crass commercialism and planned mediocrity. The event often blows cock, these days.
The Super Bowl, in particular, has gotten to be almost unwatchable. Fortunately for the NFL the last two games ended up being good, but the events themselves sucked...hard.
Oh, and if you were turned on by Arizona-Pittsburgh, or Seattle-Pittsburgh, or Denver-Atlanta, or Carolina-New England, not to mention that scintillating Trent Dilfer vs Kerry Collins match up, hey, more power to ya'. You're more easily amused than I.
Anyway, you want to know who my teams are? Okay, here they are. I'll let you know right up front though that in some instances I've tended to support players more than teams...
College Football: USC. Hey, I was a kid in L.A., in the late 60's and early 70's. It was either going to be Ma & Pa Kettle Bruin and baby blue homos, or cardinal and gold, a warrior on a white horse and USC's cheerleaders. That one was pretty easy.
Pro Football: For some reason, despite growing up in L.A., I hated the L.A. Rams. Other than USC, I hated ALL L.A. teams, which drove my dad nuts. I grew up liking crack head Mercury Morris and Paul Warfield, so I became a Dolphins fan. I had a nice little run with the Dan Marino era, but mostly it's been nothing but disappointments.
Pro Baseball: Besides Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page, my idols growing up were Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and, later, Ricky Bell. I've always been a Pirates fan, which stopped being worthwhile once Pittsburgh held their fire sale following the early 90's fuck ups against Atlanta.
NBA: Okay, here is why my allegiances have often changed, due to my rooting for players, not teams. My first favorite player was Tiny Archibald. Then, for the longest time, it was Julius Erving. I became a huge Sixers fan. I remained a Sixers fan until they shipped off Charles Barkley, leaving the team barren. I then became a Michael Jordan fan. Once I moved to Sac I eventually began to root for the Chris Webber/Vlade/Bibby/Peja/Christie/Bobby Jackson Kings, just because they're the only game in town here, and my brother and I went to a bunch of games. Mostly, I've just always rooted
against the Lakers and Celtics.
College Hoops: Never had a real rooting interest, besides Patrick Ewing at Georgetown, Darrell Griffith of Louisville and MJ. I just watch, I don't have any great rooting interest.
Hockey: Growing up, my best friend was a huge fan of Gilbert Perrault, of Buffalo. I was a big fan of Guy LaFluer and Larry Robinson, so I became a Montreal fan. Nothing but a casual fan.
Auto Racing: In NASCAR I root for Jeff Gordon, if I root for anybody. Mainly, because everyone hates him. I don't give a crap. In F1 I always rooted for Ayrton Senna.