It's A Love/Hate Thing: 10 Sports Franchises You Either Love or Hate
By (Correspondent) on July 13, 2010
3,646 reads
We all know them, either because we are their biggest fans or because we hate them more than anyone in the world.
They have glitz, they have glamor, they have a storied history. These things set them apart and make them the teams you simply cannot just like or dislike, but must love or hate. Here they are:
New York Yankees
Who loves them: New Yorkers, fans of winning at any cost, greedy pigs, LeBron James, CEOs of fortune 500 companies
Who hates them: Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, the rest of the MLB, the little guy
Life for a Yankees fan has got to be easy. The Yanks have the most World Series Pennants in the Major Leagues by a long shot with 27, 17 more than the next closest team.
They go out and buy all the best players in the majors, and have the nicest, most expensive stadium in the majors.
When you go to a ballgame, you will likely be watching a number of players that will one day find their home in Cooperstown.
The reason their fans love them is the same reason everyone else hates them.
While all other teams in the MLB have to try to put together a team on a budget, the Yankees are able to spend as much money as they want.
It is easy to win when your team's salary is higher than the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, and Arizona Diamondbacks combined.
Manchester United
Who loves them: Manchester, England, the Red Army, AIG, most Americans, FIFA 2010 for Xbox
Who hates them: Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid, La Liga, people who hate England, the rest of America
They are a lot like the Yankees because they are able to buy all the best talent available. They do not have as many trophies as the Yankees do, but life is still good for a United fan.
The "Red Army" is one of the most notorious fan bases in sports and are known for infiltrating away stadiums and turning it into a home game for United.
Just like the Yankees have the Mets, United has Man City. The red-headed stepchild of the city that is often forgot about, City fans absolutely despise United for casting such a large shadow over a team that in any other city would be a shining star.
Miami Heat
Who loves them: Miami, most of Florida, everyone who plans on buying NBA 2K11, people who love LeBron James
Who hates them: Cleveland, New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Chicago, every city that wanted LeBron, Kobe Bryant, me
They are the newest team to join the elite love/hate club, doing so when they convinced LeBron James to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to create a "superteam," if you will.
Heat fans are more excited for this upcoming season than any fan base has ever been for an upcoming season. Finding a ticket to a Heat game is like finding a needle in a haystack.
As easy as it is to love this team, it is just as easy to hate them. They have arguably three of the best 20 players in the league. I am a fan of equal competition, not of one team running the table. That is unless it's my Mavericks doing the running.
Nothing would make the people of Cleveland happier than to see this team crash and burn, and maybe a career-ending injury to LeBron James to top it all off.
Detroit Red Wings
Who loves them: Detroit, most people who casually watch hockey from time to time
Who hates them: Colorado Avalanche, die-hard fans of any other NHL team
The Red Wings' 11 Stanley Cup victories is the third-most of all time, but the most for any American team.
When it comes to hockey, I guess you could consider them America's team, though they only have two American-born players. If you love to see good hockey, you will love the Red Wings.
Since 1997, the Red Wings have won the Cup four times. For avid NHL fans, it gets tiring watching this team win it all the time, and therefore most avid fans hate them.
University of Southern California Trojans Football
Who loves them: the greater Los Angeles area, cheaters, five star recruits, professional sports agents, the Pac-10
Who hates them: UCLA, all the teams that "play by the rules," the Big 12, the SEC, the Big 10, Reggie Bush
It's easy to see why people love USC, they get the best players in the country, they never lose, and they are always favored to win the national championship. Easy team to root for.
It's easy to get players to come to USC, whether it be the history of the team, the opportunity to play a professional style offense, the location, or the fact that they pay their players.
It's also easy to see why people hate them. They cheat. I'm not saying that other teams don't cheat, but they don't get caught. USC cheated and got caught, and instead of coming down on them hard the NCAA put their tail between their legs and gave them a two-year bowl ban.
They basically said they care more about the money USC brings in than the integrity of the game. Why not hate a team that is able to live outside of the law?
New England Patriots
Who loves them: Boston, girls who love Tom Brady, cheaters
Who hates them: the entire AFC, New York Jets, Rex Ryan
Just like USC, it is easy to see why people might like them or hate them. The difference is outside of Boston the Patriots do not have many fans, whereas the Trojans have fans nationwide.
They have the most hated coach in all of sports, the NFL golden boy in Tom Brady, and the most famous cheating scandal in recent football history.
They won three Super Bowls in four years by cheating, and all the NFL did was take away some draft picks. It's hard not to hate them.
Boston Red Sox
Who loves them: Boston, anyone who hates the Yankees, green monsters
Who hates them: New York
Depending on what side of the fence you are on when it comes to the Yankees, you better be on the other side when it comes to the Red Sox.
The rivalry between these two teams is easily the biggest in sports, and every fan of baseball picks a side when these two play.
They took almost 90 years off, but once they got back in 2004, they did it with a vengeance. They won two pennants in four years and have challenged the Yankees for the top spot in the AL East every year.
Duke Blue Devils Basketball
Who loves them: Duke alums, rich kids and their families, Dick Vitale, half of Tobacco Road
Who hates them: North Carolina, Michael Jordan, the rest of the ACC, the other half of Tobacco Road
Like the Red Sox, part of the Blue Devils' glitz comes from their rivalry with the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Both teams are known for having extremely talented basketball teams, but Duke gets the edge for having the craziest fans in college basketball.
North Carolina and the rest of the ACC hate Duke for constantly being a national championship contender and the hardest opponent on every team's schedule.
While it is a fairly big rivalry nationwide, there is no bigger rivalry up and down Tobacco Road.
Los Angeles Lakers
Who loves them: Los Angeles, celebrities, bandwagon fans, ESPN
Who hates them: the Clippers, the Western Conference, LeBron James, that poor girl in Colorado
Kobe is able to play the media to his advantage, a lot like LeBron James does, and it makes people who buy into it love the Lakers and people who don't hate them.
People who love the Lakers always point out that they were able to do it without Shaq, which never made any sense to me considering he led the Lakers to three NBA championships.
I hate the Lakers because I hate Kobe, which is usually the way it goes. He chased out Shaq to do it on his own and when he couldn't, the Lakers brought in one of the most stacked lineups the NBA has seen in a while, and Kobe takes all the glory.
Dallas Cowboys
Who loves them: Dallas, America, Mexico, Madden 2008, triplets
Who hates them: Washington, Philadelphia, New York, a lot of America
The are known as "America's Team," but they could also be known as "America's most-hated team."
They have the money, the media, the talent, the stadium, but, at least in recent years, can't find a way to win it all.
They have the biggest fanbase in America, but if you're not a part of that fanbase chances are you have a serious dislike for the Boys in blue.
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