Give me a team
Who do I follow?????????????/
If you've read my first post you'll notice that I said I don't follow any particuler team, that's mainly because Whilst I have soft spots for certain teams, none has really grabbed my heart. Being Irish, we find lots of teams across sports to root for. At the minute, the list is long
Dungourney, my home village and like all Irish sports fans, you shout for the village where you came from when the hurling and football are on
Cork Hurlers and footballers, our national games, Up the Rebel County, it's where I was born, and bring on the Dubs next month
Munster Rugby, again Cork is in Munster. As a spectator, being in Cardiff in 06 and watching Munster finally conquor Europe is in my top 3 sporting memories
Cork City
Obviously any Irish national side, but especially the Rugby and soccer teams
However, my list goes beyond that
Arsenal, since the 70s when they had almost a full Irish team and manager
Leyton Orient, yeah, I know, strange one that but I lived in East London for 10 years in the 90s and they were my local team there. I got hooked when the became so bad, they were actually entertaining in ther ineptitude. Thankfully they seem to have turned a corner in recent years
Washington Capitals: First North American game I went to see, Caps in Washinton, got hooked on hockey, seen them 4 times, due a visit maybe this season
For the most part these teams have certain things in common, they are either very successful, or pretty inept, no in betweens, they all wear red/white or green (ok, bar the Caps), and I can go and watch any of them pretty easily and there is often some sort of Irish connection
But why hasn't any baseball team grabbed me in the same way?. I love the game and would probably watch Baseball tonight before Match of the Day (soccer higlights to you Yanks) but why can't I really root for someone.
I like the Boston Red Sox, rooted for them to a degree in 04, the whole history and comeback thing. Like the atomosphere at Fenway but, and here's the issue, it's a dump. (Queue of Red Sox fans booking ticket to Dublin to get me after that comment!!!). Come on, be real, I know the place has great history, but it has some of the most uncomftable seats imaginable, the facilities **** and I found the staff rude as ****. I used to stand on the terrances at English soccer games, but I'm past all of that. Against that, maybe that is why Red Sox fans seem more passionate then other teams, nothing else to do in the ball park. Maybe I need another visit to Fenway, but it just doesn't appeal to me
Giants, great great ball park in a great location, but Barry Bonds, Barry Bonds, Barry Bonds. How can I support a club that worships a cheat?
A's, great uniforms (I'm Irish, it's green and gold). First game when baseball clicked for me was an As game, but the Colliseum?. Not sure about that
Oriels, smashing ball park, never any issue getting a seat, but can they actually compete against the Yankees and Red Sox?. And when I was there, I got sunburnt, my own fault but painful memories
Phillies, great ballpark again, good food, decent team, definitely the best looking supporters I've seen to date, Phillie Fanatic, (Very entertaining watching a 6 foot high green furry monster snogging the 3rd base umpire), getting tempted here….. But not mad on Phildelphia as a place to visit again(sorry Phillies) and 10000 loses???
So here's the story, I need a team to support, ideally they should wear some element of red or green in their colours, need to be easily accessable from over here in Europe, preferably with a history of some sort,(sorry Nats fans) a decent ball park, and a reasonably decent team. Any offers out there? Could be one of the teams above or anywhere else for that matter. Give me a reason why I should support your team
Oh yeah, before I forget, no Yankees, too darn easy, there's got to be some challenge in being a fan, not just writing the biggest cheque
I'd suggest the Marlins, but seeing as you enjoy Baseball Tonight, no doubt you have joined the rest of the public in being not-so-subliminally poisoned against them. It takes a very confident individual (with severe masochistic tendencies) to be a Fish fan these days. That, and the fact we are 1-5 on your list of requirements. But we actually do have many European supporters via MLB.tv, and more importantly, plenty of scantilly-clothed ladies to wiggle in front of you for nine innings (and they are actually paid to do it, unlike the Philly attendees).
And while we are speaking of my least favorite ball club and its fans-- if you really need red, and are set on the NL East, at least cheer for the Braves. I'd hate to have to stop reading your entertaining blog due to my personal ban of all things Philadelphia.
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Well, let me suggest the St. Louis Cardinals. They wear red caps, have a long history of success and great baseball players, and have been the most successful team of the 21st century. 1 World Series win (tied with everybody else who's won the World Series this century), two World Series appearances (tied for first with the Yankees, but the Yankees haven't won it since 2000, and I consider that the 20th century, not the 21st), 4 League Championship Series reached(most of any team this century; not even the Yankees have been to that many this century. Even if you count 2000 as part of this century, the Cardinals win 5-4.) and playoff appearances 5 of 6 years (6 of 7 if you count 2000). I've never been to the new Busch Stadium, but it's new, so it's gotta be pretty nice. What more could you ask for?
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I also suggest the Marlins. We certainly could use another fan.
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The Arizona Diamondbacks wear red, are in first place in their division, have a World Championship (2001) under their belt although they are only ten years old. And they defeated the Yankees to do it!
There is a Diamondbacks blogger who lives in England, so I gather they are accessible in Northern Europe.
I live in California, so I have never been to their stadium. It gets mixed reviews from what I've read.
The Diamondbacks have last year's Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb, the current NL leader in saves, Jose Valverde, and one of the most exciting players in the game, Eric Byrnes.
ByrnesBlogger1
Life, Baseball & Eric Byrnes
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