I love watching sports. Usually it has to be a team that I'm cheering
for, but not always. I'll watch live, I'll watch on television, I'll
watch on videotape. I probably spend more time watching sports than
anything else I do. My favorite sports to watch are World Cup Soccer,
college ice hockey and professional baseball. But by no means am I
limited to just watching those. In any given year I will probably attend
60 University of Michigan sporting events, 20 professional sporting
events, and watch another 200 sporting events on television. What I enjoy
about watching the sports is that on one hand I know what is going to
happen because of my knowledge of the sport, and on the other hand,
something different happens every time. The following are the teams I
spend the most time following. |
| Hockey is the
first sport I
was really exposed to, as my father has always played it. Naturally
when I came to Michigan I was very quickly drawn to Yost Ice Arena, home
to the Michigan Wolverines, who have won more ice hockey national
championships than any other school. My favorite players ever have been
John Madden and Kevin Magnuson. |
| There
is nothing
better than a summer day at Wrigley Field. I will always be loyal to
the Chicago Cubs, no matter how many times they break my heart. Someday
the Cubs will win the World Series, and everybody will claim to have
been a Cubs fan from birth. When I say it, it will be true. My
favorite players ever are Ryne Sandberg and Steve Lake. |
| Soccer is the world's
most
popular
sport, and is probably the one I am most passionate about. When The
U.S. Men's National Team has a match in the World Cup or a qualifier I
will watch it, and nothing will get in my way. I'll skip class, take
vacation from work, get up in the middle of the night - whatever it
takes. Many Americans don't realize how good the U.S. men are, but
those of us that do love the team. My favorite players ever are Frank
Klopas and Tony Meola |
| While hockey is my favorite Michigan sport, I closely
follow many U of M teams. I very rarely miss a home game of the
football, women's basketball or women's volleyball teams. My
favorite football players were Jamie Morris and Jon Jansen. My favorite
basketball players were Catherine DiGiacinto and Molly Murray. My
favorite volleyball players were Jeanine Szczesniak and Alija Pittenger.
While I did not follow his team, I also closely followed the career of
track star Neil Gardner, who was one of the coolest people I've ever
met. |
| The
Chicago Fire of the MLS finally provide me with a domestic soccer club
to cheer for. I have been at two of the biggest games in their history,
the 2000 MLS Cup championship game they lost, and the 1998 MLS Cup
championship they won. The latter was especially fun, because I was on
the team plane for the flight back after the game. My favorite players
ever are Frank Klopas and C.J. Brown |
| While
I greatly prefer the National League and the Cubs, the Tigers have been
growing on me. I started going to games because they were the only
professional baseball team anywhere close to me, and I've always loved
going to baseball games. When the last season at Tiger Stadium came my
friend Joe Pleva and I decided to get partial season tickets so that we
could go to the final game at Tiger Stadium. The next year we renewed
our tickets so that we could go to opening day at the new ballpark. The
Tigers are a fun team to watch, and I really enjoy going to the games,
even if it is designated hitter ball instead of baseball. My favorite
players ever are Bubba Trammell and Rick Leach. |
| I used
to be a huge fan of the Chicago Blackhawks. However, I now hate the
franchise because they have made too many moves without the intent of
helping the team be better in the long run or short run. The team is
the worst managed team in the NHL, and I can not force myself to cheer
for them again until they have new ownership that cares about winning.
I do still enjoy watching pro hockey though, and I tend to cheer for
teams with former Michigan players. I also love Hockey Night in Canada.
My favorite NHL players ever are Keith Brown and Tony Esposito |
|
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