10 Occasions When Everyone Is a Sports Fan

There are occasions when everyone becomes a sports fan. Whether it's your mother, brother, father or cousin who doesn't even know who Russell Wilson is, certain moments have a special way of appealing to the masses.

The criteria for these 10 occasions were simple: We put together a list of major events that draw huge ratings or have historical importance. Then we explained why each event has become so compelling over the years.

So forget your loyalties for a second. It's time now to appreciate the best sports has to offer.

Here's 10 occasions when everyone is a fan.

FIFA World Cup

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Soccer won't ever be as popular as some other sports in the United States, but that doesn't mean fans don't appreciate it.

The World Cup is a time when soccer and patriotism come face-to-face for a meeting of pride. When the U.S. men's national team is involved, all bets are off.

Painted faces and random soccer fans come out of the woodwork like zombies in The Walking Dead.

Wait, you're telling me you didn't know your neighbor Sean was a diehard soccer fan? You had no clue that his DVR was juiced with MLS games?

Every four years, the World Cup comes poking around. And every four years, countries get incredibly serious about their teams. Like the Olympics, it's a great experience for all sports fans. It gives people the chance to appreciate a sport that doesn't get much exposure on a national scale.

Opening Day of Major League Baseball

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Major League Baseball's 162-game season is a long, tedious one. You really have to love baseball in order to get through an entire year.

But one thing all sports enthusiasts can appreciate is Opening Day. Baseball's kickoff event signals the return of America's pastime. Besides that, it's also the official messenger of good weather for winter-ridden cities perched on the Eastern Seaboard.

Few things are as enjoyable as that pristine spring air making its way through your lungs as you hear vendors yell out, "Get your Cracker Jacks!"

Even if you decide to boycott baseball until the postseason, Opening Day will always be well worth your time.

Super Bowl

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Super Bowl XLIX was proof that there's nothing like a great football game to get your emotions flowing.

The final drive of this year's Super Bowl was must-see TV at its finest. Seeing Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson hook up with wide receiver Jermaine Kearse for their own "Eli Manning and David Tyree" moment was gut-wrenching. As if that wasn't enough drama for you, New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler's game-winning interception in the end zone set social media ablaze.

There's a reason why 114.4 million watched the Patriots and Seahawks clash, making it the most-watched program in United States television history, according to Nielsen (via TV by the Numbers' Sara Bibel). People can't get enough of the NFL.

More than anything, the Super Bowl has become a rite of passage for sports fans. Super Bowl Sunday is basically a holiday. It's an excuse to load up on wings, drinks and nachos and hang out with friends on a day that's normally reserved for bouts of pre-Monday depression.

The Masters

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Golf's grandest stage will always be the Masters. The quest to be fitted for the green jacket is one of the biggest perennial pursuits in all of sports.

The Masters is a special time for golf's biggest names. Sure, there are other tournaments, but none of those carry the same mystique as playing under the glistening sun at Augusta National Golf Club.

You don't even have to enjoy the sport to really get down with the Masters. There's something unique about that final Sunday that draws everyone in. It feels like with each passing year, everything comes down to that final round of golf.

Winning this tournament matters. Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus all won green jackets. Tiger Woods launched his career at Augusta back in '97. Even Phil Mickelson has won the Masters three times.

Greatness patrols the tireless greens of Augusta National Golf Club, and anyone good enough to join those ranks won't ever be forgotten. That's the magic of the Masters.

Super Bowl Media Day

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Super Bowl media day is a glorious venture. Getting to see your favorite players talk to the press and answer a series of informative, humorous and sometimes ridiculous questions makes for headlines and compelling TV.

There are always moments to cherish, especially when you get answers—or lack thereof—from the likes of Marshawn Lynch.

We know that the NFL is the ultimate sports league. Super Bowl media day is simply another extension of its awe-inspiring power and popularity.

March Madness

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Who doesn't love the NCAA tournament, or as we'll call it, March Madness?

Seeing underdogs dethrone some of the best college programs in the country is what we live for. Office productivity grinds to a halt during this time of year as brackets become the only paperwork that matters.

March Madness is the jumping-off point for drama. It's a tournament of will, skill and a whole lot of luck. There are no guarantees, which make it anyone's game.

If we take a look back at the teams who have all raised the hardware at the end of the college basketball season since 2000, we'll find that nine different programs have come out champions.

The best part about March Madness is that everyone gets down with it. Your co-workers, father, mother, brother and sister can all fill out a bracket and get lost in the chaos of rim-crushing dunks and heartache.

A Floyd Mayweather Fight

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Floyd Mayweather is the last great American fighter. Not in the sense of ring generalship or skills, but in the sense that he's the last fighter who can shatter pay-per-view records.

The undefeated 37-year-old's career has been filled with big wins over top-notch opponents. Mayweather figured out ways to defeat excellent boxers like Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Diego Corrales over the years.

Though he isn't the spry, youthful champion he once was, Mayweather still draws a huge crowd.

His clout was never more apparent than when he went up against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in 2013. After he walked away with a win by majority decision over the young challenger, Dan Rafael of ESPN.com wrote that the victory "shattered the all-time record for highest-grossing pay-per-view fight of all time, generating $150 million in revenue from 2.2 million pay-per-view buys."

Floyd's aggressive personality makes him a boxer you either love, hate or appreciate. Now that the long-awaited mega-fight between him and Manny Pacquiao is almost complete, according to Joel Guinto of Agence France-Presse (h/t Yahoo Sports), look for PPV records to be obliterated once again.

Game 7's

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You don't have a pulse if you don't enjoy a good Game 7. It doesn't matter what the sport is; when everything is put on the line, people want to see what transpires.

Let's talk about the NBA for a second. Without trying to crush hockey's dreams like an overhand right from Zdeno Chara, there's something extra-dramatic about a Game 7 in basketball.

When he was still collecting checks from ESPN's Page 2, Bill Simmons wrote about some the NBA's best Game 7 moments. Simmons' journey to the center of Game 7 is a long, winding and proper one. It shows how great all of these contests have been over the years.

Watching two teams go out and put everything on the line is huge. That's what sports is all about.

College Football Playoff

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The College Football Playoff is a fresh concept that has really taken flight since its inception. This year's inaugural edition featured Alabama, Florida State, Oregon and Ohio State.

Of all the wild possibilities, it was Urban Meyer's Buckeyes who ran the gauntlet and wound up winning it all after a 42-20 shelling of the Ducks. The final chapter of the College Football Playoff set a new record for cable viewership, per Bill Chappell of NPR.org.

A total of 33.4 million viewers tuned in to see the Ducks and Buckeyes exchange blows. Despite not being NFL numbers, 33.4 million is still a significant number.

The playoff system isn't perfect. Fans would still love to see the field expanded to eight teams. But it's a lot better than the BCS catastrophe we dealt with for years.

Sports fans appreciate seeing the top four teams in the nation go head-to-head; the viewership ratings prove it.

Olympic Opening Ceremonies

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The Olympics' opening ceremonies are regal events. Host nations spare no expensive putting forth a visual masterpiece that the eyes, heart and soul can't get enough of.

To show you how serious countries take their opening ceremonies, back in 2008 at the Summer Olympics, China spent an estimated $100 million on their breathtaking soiree, according to NRP.org's Linton Weeks and Uri Berliner.

Words can't properly describe how amazing that event was. It was coordinated to perfection, doused in lights and topped off with some of the best artistry you'll ever see.

Who cares what season the games fall in: The Olympics are always fun to get lost in. And because they are a worldwide entity, the games draw insane ratings—ratings that are highlighted by the opening ceremonies.

Take the London Olympics for example. That year, 900 million people tuned in, according to Reuters' Avril Ormsby. That's not a typo. There were 900 million people in the world watching that event as it unfolded.

On a grandiose scale of sportsmanship, the Olympics take the cake, cookies or whatever other bakery treat you want to use as a trophy.

Unless noted otherwise, all game scores, stats and information courtesy of Sports-Reference.com.