Favorite sports teams

I will list all my favorite sports team up front and how long I've been a fan, then comment on them:
Major League Baseball:Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (1978) in American League and Los Angeles Dodgers (1978) in National League
Other teams I like- Houston Astros (1980), Florida Marlins (1993)

National Football League: Seattle Seahawks (1984);Pittsburgh Steelers (1978-1983) Other teams I like- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1979), Miami Dolphins (1978), Carolina Panthers (1995), Indianapolis Colts (1984), Jacksonville Jaguars (1995), Philadelphia Eagles (1980), Dallas Cowboys (1978)

National Basketball Association: Portland Trailblazers (1978)
Other teams I like- Orlando Magic (1989), Charlotte Hornets (1998-2002), Indiana Pacers (1978), San Antonio Spurs (1980)

National Hockey League: San Jose Sharks (1991). Los Angeles Kings (1980-1991) Other teams I like- Pittsburgh Penguins (1980), Tampa Bay Lightning (1992), Carolina Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers (1980), Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993)

Arena Football League: San Jose Sabercats (1995); Tampa Bay Storm (1991-95)/Pittsburgh Gladiators (1987-90); Portland Forest Dragons (1997-99)
Other teams I like- Los Angeles Avengers (2000), Las Vegas Gladiators (2003), Dallas Desperados (2002), Philadelphia Soul (2004)

National Lacrosse League: Portland Lumberjax (2006)

Women's National Basketball Association: Seattle Storm (2003); Portland Fire (2000-2002)
Other teams I like- Los Angeles Sparks (1997), Charlotte Sting (1997), San Antonio Silver Stars (1997), Phoenix Mercury (1997), Indiana Fever (2000)

Major League Soccer: Los Angeles Galaxy (1995); San Jose Earthquakes/Clash (1995-2005)
Other teams I like- Tampa Bay Mutiny (1995)

My favorite college sports teams: University of Oregon Fighting Ducks (1978)
Other teams I like- University of North Carolina TarHeels (1978); University of Southern California (USC) Trojans (1976)

Oregon State University Beavers for college baseball. You may wonder how I can be a Beavers fan when I am a Duck, they are vicious rivals, but not when the Ducks don't have a baseball program. Until the Ducks restore baseball it's ok for Duck fans to root for Beaver baseball, or any in-state program for that matter. I like the Portland State University Vikings too.

When I lived in Southern California, the Trojans were my favorite team, I hated the rival UCLA Bruins. If I stayed in California, I probably would've gone to Cal State-Northridge (UCSN), but we moved to Springfield, Oregon and the University of Oregon was just across town in Eugene, one of the top ten Journalism schools in the nation, so it was meant to be. I remained loyal to the Ducks even through their many bad season in football and basketball. Both sports have since turned their programs around thanks to Mike Belotti and Ernie Kent. As a Duck alumn now I was proud to see the Ducks finish #2 in the nation in football in 2002 with a school record 11-1 season. Oregon was good enough to play for the national championship that year in the 2002 Rose Bowl, but was robbed by the BCS scoring system and Nebraska was selected despite Oregon being ranked second in both human polls. As a result the Cornhuskers got slaughtered by the Miami Hurricanes, 37-14. The Ducks would've given Miami a better game. The Ducks proved their case in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl easily handling the Colorado Buffalos 38-16, and had a shot at at least a share of the National Title had Miami lost. The Ducks would've made it to Pasadena for sure had they stayed undefeated, but they were upset by Stanford at home 49-42 in a wild come from behind by Stanford. Stanford was no slouch that year either as they finished the regular season 9-2, ranked 11th, but were upset in the Seattle Bowl by George Tech 24-14, and finished 17th in the final rankings.

So if you are a fan of any of the above mentioned teams, feel free to post comments to my blog. You may think I am a bandwagon fan since I have switched loyalties a few times and like more than one team in each sport.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were my first favorite NFL team and yes I was glad to see them win the Super Bowl under Terry Bradshaw in 1979 & 1980. I greatly admired Terry Bradshaw as a role model and read his book "Man of Steel", which I highly recommend. He is a great Christian leader. I stayed a fan of the Steelers until many of the great Steelers retired by 1984. Lynn Swann and John Stallworth were my favorite receivers, Swann played at USC, which was a plus. I loved Franco Harris, Jack Ham, "Mean" Joe Greene, Rocky Bleier, and the list goes on. They were all great players and Chuck Noll was a great coach.

When Franco Harris left the Steelers in 1984 and signed with the Seattle Seahawks, it was a natural transition for me to root for the local team now. The team was still pretty new, only being around since 1976, so I could grow up with them. So it was ironic that in their 30th Anniversary season they finally make it to the Super Bowl, celebrating 40 years, and play my former favorite team the Steelers, so it was a win-win situation for me, althought I would've liked to see the Seahawks win their first and cap off their Anniverary season with a Championship. The Seahawks did outplay the Steelers, and I do agree with many that the referees "stole" the game away from Seattle with so many penalties called, and robbed the team of a touchdown with a minor pushoff in the endzone. Even Ben Roethlisberger admitted that he was surprised they gave him a TD on his dive into the endzone that came up short. Since it was Jerome Bettis' last game and he was playing for his first championship in his home town of Detroit, it was a better story if Pittsburgh won, so Jerome went out as a champion. The Seahawks have a strong nucleus and now that they have got their experience, will be back next season and will take home the trophy.

Some may say that you can't like both the Angels and Dodgers they are rivals. I see it as they play in different leagues, so I can have a favorite team in both the American and National League. My dream is that they play the Freeway Series sometime in the World Series. They Bay Area had their World Series between the Giants & A's, and the A's and Dodgers have met in the North vs. South. Even when the Angels finally made it to the World Series in 2002, it was nice to see them match up against the San Francisco Giants in the other version of North vs. South, and in both series' Southern California won. The Dodgers have been in a World Series slump since then, not having won a championship since 1988, and when they have made the playoffs since, haven't gotten out of the first round.

Growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles there were plenty of pro sports teams to root for, but I didn't really become a sports fan until we moved to Oregon. I used to occasionally listen to Los Angeles Lakers game on the radio, KLAC with Chick Hearn. He was a great play-by-play announcer and helped my love for pro basketball grow. So when we moved to Oregon in the Spring of 1978, it was easy to become a fan of the local Portland Trailblazers team, Oregon's only pro sports franchise at the time. Blazermania was still in its heyday as the team was only two years removed from their 1st NBA Championship. The Blazers had a legendary annoucer too in Bill Schonely, with great catch phrases and called the Blazers "Rip City." I will devote my next post to the demise of the proud Blazers franchise as they haven't won a championship since, although they did come close in the early 1990s.