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Teams you used to root for, perhaps when you were young, but no longer

john4psu

john4psu

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Sep 7, 2003
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I have three.

The Minnesota Vikings, Joe Kapp, and the Purple People Eaters, and the winter winds of old Metropolitan Stadium. Then a Penn Stater changed my local team's fortunes. Number 32, Franco Harris. Before he arrived the Steelers never made the playoffs and with him for the next eight seasons they would not miss them and my fandom for the Vikings waned.

The UCLA Bruins led by the Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden. Lew and then the Walton Gang. College basketball was not yet overcome by March Madness, it was ruled by the Bruins. A college basketball dynasty rivaled by only today's UConn's women.

The New York Knicks. Willis, Clyde, The Rhode Scholar and future Senator Bill Bradley, Dave D, and Earl the Pearl. Red Holtzman orchestrated the bench led by Barnett and the future Zen Master Phil Jackson.

So were there teams you used to root for but no longer do?
 
Baltimore Colts -- because they no longer exist. Can't root for Indianapolis.
Phillies -- when they traded Richie Ashburn.
 
Eagles and Flyers since I really don't care and haven't for a long time. Never was a Sixers fan -- all Celtics since I was a boy after the Warriors left town and there was no pro team in Philly for a couple years. Don't care about the Celts anymore either. Still have a soft spot for the Phils.

Basically, it's Villanova basketball and PSU football.
 
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I grew up as a Philly sports fan - Phillies, Flyers, Eagles and Sixers. I am primarily a PSU sports fan now. I follow football, basketball, wrestling, women's VB and attend all men's ice hockey home games. I am also interested in and read about all other PSU athletics.

The only professional teams that I really follow during the season now are the Steelers and Eagles. I do actually watch a lot of Steelers and Eagles games. Been a Steagles fan since Franco's rookie season.

Villanova was my Big Five basketball team as a kid and I was glad to see them win the title this year. Still have a soft spot for them.

At different times in my youth I also liked the KC Chiefs, Minny Vikings, LA Rams, LA Lakers and Chicago Bears. Briefly liked ND football (boy has that changed) and later USC football - partly because their cheerleaders caught my eye as a teenager. Loved those outfits and they always had at least one beauty who was just my type.

I have very little real interest in professional sports now.
 
Rooted for Tom MacMillen, Len Elmore and the rest of the Terps. Never again.

Also the Dallas Cowboys until they hired Jimmy Johnson.
 
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wex18 said:
Phillies -- when they traded Richie Ashburn
Click to expand...

John Buzhardt was such a great pitcher for the Phils. He went 5-16 and 6-18 in the 2 seasons he pitched for the Phils. (In his defense, the '60 and '61 teams were brutal.)

Alvin Dark was another way-past-his-prime player that the Phils got in the trade. He only played 55 games in the '60 season - his only season with the Phils. He played 3rd and 1st, and his .242 with 1 HR and 14 RBIs for the Phils.

I believe Woody Woods was the other player the Phils got. He was actually a young player, but he only played 34 games in his 2 non-descript seasons with the Phils. He was out of baseball after his 2nd season with the Phils.

Quite a trade for the Fightins. :(
 
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mn78psu83 said:
I grew up as a Philly sports fan - Phillies, Flyers, Eagles and Sixers. I am primarily a PSU sports fan now. I follow football, basketball, wrestling, women's VB and attend all men's ice hockey home games. I am also interested in and read about all other PSU athletics.

The only professional teams that I really follow during the season now are the Steelers and Eagles. I do actually watch a lot of Steelers and Eagles games. Been a Steagles fan since Franco's rookie season.

Villanova was my Big Five basketball team as a kid and I was glad to see them win the title this year. Still have a soft spot for them.

At different times in my youth I also liked the KC Chiefs, Minny Vikings, LA Rams, LA Lakers and Chicago Bears. Briefly liked ND football (boy has that changed) and later USC football - partly because their cheerleaders caught my eye as a teenager. Loved those outfits and they always had at least one beauty who was just my type.

I have very little real interest in professional sports now.
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You reminded me. I loved the Dallas Texans of the old AFL (became the Chiefs). I was so happy when they won the championship in, was it 60 or 61. Abner Haynes, Cotton Davidson, E.J.the Beast Holub. I hated the Oilers cause they were pretty dominant in the early AFL.
 
artsandletters said:
You reminded me. I loved the Dallas Texans of the old AFL (became the Chiefs). I was so happy when they won the championship in, was it 60 or 61. Abner Haynes, Cotton Davidson, E.J.the Beast Holub. I hated the Oilers cause they were pretty dominant in the early AFL.
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My anti team in the AFL/AFC was always the Raiders. Couldn't stand the Raiders. They were the nemesis of the Chiefs and then the Steelers too. They also hammered the Eagles in the SB. Never liked the Raiders.
 
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Tom McAndrew said:
John Buzhardt was such a great pitcher for the Phils. He went 5-16 and 6-18 in the 2 seasons he pitched for the Phils. (In his defense, the '60 and '61 teams were brutal.)

Alvin Dark was another way-past-his-prime player that the Phils got in the trade. He only played 55 games in the '60 season - his only season with the Phils. He played 3rd and 1st, and his .242 with 1 HR and 14 RBIs for the Phils.

I believe Woody Woods was the other player the Phils got. He was actually a young player, but he only played 34 games in his 2 non-descript seasons with the Phils. He was out of baseball after his 2nd season with the Phils.

Quite a trade for the Fightins. :(
Click to expand...
I caddied for Alvin Dark in Miami in 1971. I knew he had managed Willie Mays, my favorite player ever, so I had to ask. Mistake. Dark wasn't a fan of Mays; complained about his ego. Over 18 holes I also learned that Dark was pretty much a Jesus freak, too much for me. Dark had the Indians job then.

I also caddied for Kenny 'the Hawk' Harrelson. Now there's a great guy. He playd a lot with the jockey Pete Anderson who was riding at Hialeah at the time.
 
I was a Steelers fan until just after the Immaculate Reception. All my friends rooted for the Bills and Browns, and the Steelers had sucked forever. Pretty soon when the steelers started to win my friends suddenly became fans. Intolerable.
 
- Atlanta Braves (huge Dale Murphy fan)
- San Francisco Giants (huge Will Clark fan)
- Chicago Bulls (lived in NC when Jordan was a Tarheel and had first generation Air Jordan's when they came out)
 
Like me, many kids in western PA were Namath/Jets fans in the late 60's. The Steelers were pretty awful and Broadway Joe was from the area.
 
Notre Dame pretty much wins this choice for me. Before cable and ESPN we had a pretty steady diet of ND football on the big three networks. Quite a bit of Penn State in the North East as well, to be fair.
 
john4psu said:
I have three.

The Minnesota Vikings, Joe Kapp, and the Purple People Eaters, and the winter winds of old Metropolitan Stadium. Then a Penn Stater changed my local team's fortunes. Number 32, Franco Harris. Before he arrived the Steelers never made the playoffs and with him for the next eight seasons they would not miss them and my fandom for the Vikings waned.

The UCLA Bruins led by the Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden. Lew and then the Walton Gang. College basketball was not yet overcome by March Madness, it was ruled by the Bruins. A college basketball dynasty rivaled by only today's UConn's women.

The New York Knicks. Willis, Clyde, The Rhode Scholar and future Senator Bill Bradley, Dave D, and Earl the Pearl. Red Holtzman orchestrated the bench led by Barnett and the future Zen Master Phil Jackson.

So were there teams you used to root for but no longer do?
Click to expand...

Growing up in Connecticut, I was a Yankees fan in mostly Red Sox territory. This was the Mantle-Berra-Kubek-Bauer-Ford, etc era. I didn't follow other pro sports. After graduating from PSU and settling in Northern VA, I transitioned to one then another Senators team. During another long baseball drought in DC, I started following the Orioles featuring Cal Ripken. Once DC secured another team, the Nationals, in 2005, my loyalty changed once again. I have absolutely no residual attachment to the Yankees. I still devote most of my attention to MLB in the pro world, and follow all Penn State sports as my other loyalty.
 
When I was a kid I liked the SF 49ers, back in the days when John Brodie was throwing to a receiver named Gene Washington.
 
Dallas Cowboys. HUGE Roger Staubach fan. He was and still is my idol. Jerrah and his crew pretty much ruined the Cowboys for me.
 
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I had a purple Nerf football as a kid and liked the Vikings. I had a Cowboys winter hat my mother probably got for a nickel and I liked them for about 5 minutes. I had a Pitt hat when my uncle bought me and my brother both hats in the 1970's, one Pitt and one PSU. He was a ballbuster. Wanted to see the kids fight. The only team I never quit on was the Phillies. I had Eagles stuff and lived and died with them but their nonsense doesn't bother me anymore, nor does Penn State's. I hope they win but if not, it's all the same to me. I would never root against the teams but I do root against the corporation. I liked the Broncos for awhile too when I was coming out of HS thinking I wanted to live out west, which was a dumb idea.

Cool question, by the way.
 
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Detroit Lions of the 1970's... Celtics, RedSox. Always Penn State fan...
Growing up in Scranton, also rooted for ND through the Ara and Dan Devine years. By the time I was in my teens and was living in Philadelphia, I came to my senses ;)
 
john4psu said:
I have three.

The Minnesota Vikings, Joe Kapp, and the Purple People Eaters, and the winter winds of old Metropolitan Stadium. Then a Penn Stater changed my local team's fortunes. Number 32, Franco Harris. Before he arrived the Steelers never made the playoffs and with him for the next eight seasons they would not miss them and my fandom for the Vikings waned.

The UCLA Bruins led by the Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden. Lew and then the Walton Gang. College basketball was not yet overcome by March Madness, it was ruled by the Bruins. A college basketball dynasty rivaled by only today's UConn's women.

The New York Knicks. Willis, Clyde, The Rhode Scholar and future Senator Bill Bradley, Dave D, and Earl the Pearl. Red Holtzman orchestrated the bench led by Barnett and the future Zen Master Phil Jackson.

So were there teams you used to root for but no longer do?
Click to expand...

Wow, that's a little freaky, as i rooted for each of these teams as well!
 
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Such a foreign concept to me. I continue to be a fan of every team I began rooting for as a young child. Became a Steelers field when I was 5 and they were playing the Cowboys in the Super Bowl. Didn't know about liking the Steelers so much, but I knew that I hated the Cowboys. Became an Islanders fan shortly after through my brother's rooting interest. Same goes for Penn State and the Reds. Became a Sixers fan due to Dr. J. I considered dropping the Sixers when Brooklyn got a franchise (my birthplace and where my family is from) but just couldn't do it.
I would like to conduct a research project to show that most fans that switch teams have a higher rate of divorce.
 
Huge bandwagon Steelers fan growing up in the 70s as the Iggles really were hopeless and owned by a degenerate gambler and drunk who you knew would always make the wrong move (though a good enough guy). The Steelers were also the antithesis of the loathesome Cowboys. My brother was friends with the daughter of the lawyer/agent for many of the great Steelers so I have some cool swag from that.

I still root a little for them after the Eagles, but some of the braying Yinzers on here make it hard.

I generally think those who shift allegiances and bandwagon have a moral failing. One guy I know who grew up on Long Island likes the Yankees, Cowboys, Lakers, USC football and Man United. I just can't take that seriously and he really is such a phony
 
I was a big fan of the Willis Reed Knicks teams. I thought the team which won 2 championships in the 70s had great chemistry not seen too often in the NBA.
 
john4psu said:
I have three.

The Minnesota Vikings, Joe Kapp, and the Purple People Eaters, and the winter winds of old Metropolitan Stadium. Then a Penn Stater changed my local team's fortunes. Number 32, Franco Harris. Before he arrived the Steelers never made the playoffs and with him for the next eight seasons they would not miss them and my fandom for the Vikings waned.

The UCLA Bruins led by the Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden. Lew and then the Walton Gang. College basketball was not yet overcome by March Madness, it was ruled by the Bruins. A college basketball dynasty rivaled by only today's UConn's women.

The New York Knicks. Willis, Clyde, The Rhode Scholar and future Senator Bill Bradley, Dave D, and Earl the Pearl. Red Holtzman orchestrated the bench led by Barnett and the future Zen Master Phil Jackson.

So were there teams you used to root for but no longer do?
Click to expand...
Well, as a kid, I just rooted for the teams my dad rooted for. With one exception, I still root for those teams today. My dad grew up a Raiders fan....and I was a raiders fan until nashville got their own team....now I am a diehard Titan fan.
 
None, decided favorite teams as a kid and stayed loyal ever since - though some I don't follow as closely as I should. No fair weather fan here.
 
I was always a Penn State fan, but being from western Pa., also followed and liked Pitt. Eventually, the hatred and venom coming from Pitt fans turned me off. It increased significantly with the scandal, but was bad for awhile before that.
 
Had two pennants hanging in my room as a kid (do pennants even exist today?), Phillies and Red Sox. Must have been something about the color red...anyway, Carlton, Schmidt, Hays and Luzinski, Dewy Evans, Rice, Fisk, etc. era. For whatever reason the Phillies faded away for me. Guess I couldn't stand watching lefty keep losing 1-0 and 2-1 games. Boy he seemed to have the worst run support ever.

Jumped on the Stillers and PSU in early 70's and never left.
 
Pittsburgh Pirates have always been my #1 MLB team but I always liked the Brooklyn Dodgers and 1955 was magical for me with dem bums finally beating the New York Yankees. Little did I suspect at the time, but this feat was to be repeated a mere 5 years later by the Pirates!
 
The Yankees (#7) and the Mets when I was young. (I must have caught 120 of the Amazing Mets games in 1969, on WPIX.) The Phillies and then the Orioles. I was a Notre Dame fan until the 12-men-on-the-field Orange Bowl game, never looked back. (I was 11 at the time.) Have always been a Penn basketball fan, Georgetown since 1978, Redskins since the Over-the-Hill Gang, Nationals since they arrived in Washington, Bullets/Wizards since the early eighties. For some reason I always support the Cleveland teams, probably because I really think a lot of the city, great place to visit. The Cubs too. I'll root for the Philadelphia teams when there's no conflict. (I'd be happy if the Eagles won the Super Bowl but nowhere near as happy as, say, EPC Fan would be.)

Have always despised the Cowboys and the Raiders.
 
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