Top 10 Sports Towns (Part II)
On a quick tangent, big ups to the Cavaliers for winning the Las Vegas summer pro league championship with a perfect 6-0 record. It's easy to dismiss these summer leagues as useless. After all, Michael Jordan even asked Sidney Dean to play summer pro league. Sidney and Billy Ho could barely beat King and the Duck who were like 40. However, you always see an interesting name pop up. The Cavs were excited about a pair of undrafted (for various reasons) PGs in John Gilchrist and John Lucas III. Bottom line, Gilchrist doesn't play nice with others and I'm pretty sure Lucas is 5 foot 3. Out of nowhere comes Blake Steepe from Gonzaga to hit 50% of his three pointers. The Cavs need shooters. This could become relevant. You should know this.
Anyway, back to the list:
#6 Oakland
The birthplace of moneyball. And before that, the A's of the early 70s and late 80s were two of the most dynamic teams in MLB history. Huge bonus points for the mental image of Hammer dancing outside the ballpark for Charlie Finley. (Wow, Hammer references in back to back posts.) The black hole is the best NFL venue and Al Davis might be Nosferatu. The Raiders are probably the most famous NFL franchise in the world, although some of this phenomena can be traced to gangsta rap. Nonetheless, credit is due. As Snoop would say, "what east coast ain't got no love." The Warriors...well, they aren't much to get excited about since Run TMC broke up.
On yet another side note, the Snoop quote from the Source awards at the height of bi-coastal rapper tension has got to be the 2nd greatest moment in rap history. Don't forget that he was pointing a diamond encrusted cane at a hostile NYC crowd when he was making those comments.
#5 Indianapolis
Yea, I said it. Notwithstanding the disaster this past year where noone wanted to participate, I already mentioned that Indy get bonus points for the 500; one of America's greatest singular annual events. More importantly, this is Hoosier country. The bread basket of basketball. It tops NYC. It tops DC. It tops them all. On the pro tip, the Pacers pack 'em in and they are vocal fans. Really, Indy could survive on hoops alone but it also has the NFL's poster child playing QB for the Colts. No, not Jim Sorgi. Indy does lose some points for stealing it's NFL team....although, in retrospect, screw Baltimore.
#4 Pittsburgh
I hate frickin' Pittspuke. I do. It's in my blood but you gotta give it up when the giving it up time has gone. They do it right. The Pirates are a NL original and, despite their many faults, have one of the best ballparks around. It's a huge hockey town helped in no small part by the 2nd greatest one, Mario Lemieux.
I refuse to wax poetic about the greatness of Steeler nation. However, I will always remember that from 1996-1998, the Pittsburgh Steelers chose one home game a year and designated it as Cleveland Browns day. On that day, Browns fans were welcomed into 3 Rivers Stadium. They didn't need the ticket sales, that place has been sold out since Terry Bradshaw got drafted. And that is possibly the classiest move in NFL history.
#3 Detroit
Jason Whitlock at ESPN wrote a great article about Detroit being sports town USA. He doth protest too much but his points are valid. I believe in Hockey Town, Denny McClain, Sparky Anderson, the Bad Boys, Barry Sanders, "Paper Tiger," and Ford Field.
So, are were starting to pick up on something here. There are a number of poor, rust belt Midwest cities which are constantly dismissed and derided by the media. These towns don't just watch sports, they consume sports to survive because there is simply nothing else. Is that sad? I don't know. I guess it depend on how important you believe that sports should be in a person's life. It depends on whether or not you believe that your love for sports can define you as a human being. There are entire cities that feel that way and credit is due. The best example is still to come before a quick digression to the greatest east coast sports town:
#2 Illidelphia
Philadelphia can tie its bad fortune to a title drought which began when Dr. J trimmed the afro. Long and painful it may be but the Ill lacks stand out heartbreaking moments to really punctuate the despair. The fandom is top notch all the way around. You can't walk anywhere in the city, any time of year without hearing an E-A-G-L-E-S chant. They take it on the road, too. Although, that chant can lead to an ass whupping or two. I mean if one were to theorectically start the chant in a blue collar Cleveland bar. I do wonder how many chants were going on when Rich "the brain" Kotite was calling the shots. They'd have been better off with Rich Little.
How about signature events? Wing Bowl. A blog post can never do it justice. The most repulsive, wonderful spectacle that you'll ever see. Then there's the annual AI brush with the DA's office. By the way, the new ballparks are all outstanding.
I won't go much further on that as I might could speculate that the Stu would want to refute my top ranking with yarns of Philly lore. So, I leave it for another day and another voice. I can promise that the third and final installment of this ranking will be the story of the greatest sports town in America. Until.
Anyway, back to the list:
#6 Oakland
The birthplace of moneyball. And before that, the A's of the early 70s and late 80s were two of the most dynamic teams in MLB history. Huge bonus points for the mental image of Hammer dancing outside the ballpark for Charlie Finley. (Wow, Hammer references in back to back posts.) The black hole is the best NFL venue and Al Davis might be Nosferatu. The Raiders are probably the most famous NFL franchise in the world, although some of this phenomena can be traced to gangsta rap. Nonetheless, credit is due. As Snoop would say, "what east coast ain't got no love." The Warriors...well, they aren't much to get excited about since Run TMC broke up.
On yet another side note, the Snoop quote from the Source awards at the height of bi-coastal rapper tension has got to be the 2nd greatest moment in rap history. Don't forget that he was pointing a diamond encrusted cane at a hostile NYC crowd when he was making those comments.
#5 Indianapolis
Yea, I said it. Notwithstanding the disaster this past year where noone wanted to participate, I already mentioned that Indy get bonus points for the 500; one of America's greatest singular annual events. More importantly, this is Hoosier country. The bread basket of basketball. It tops NYC. It tops DC. It tops them all. On the pro tip, the Pacers pack 'em in and they are vocal fans. Really, Indy could survive on hoops alone but it also has the NFL's poster child playing QB for the Colts. No, not Jim Sorgi. Indy does lose some points for stealing it's NFL team....although, in retrospect, screw Baltimore.
#4 Pittsburgh
I hate frickin' Pittspuke. I do. It's in my blood but you gotta give it up when the giving it up time has gone. They do it right. The Pirates are a NL original and, despite their many faults, have one of the best ballparks around. It's a huge hockey town helped in no small part by the 2nd greatest one, Mario Lemieux.
I refuse to wax poetic about the greatness of Steeler nation. However, I will always remember that from 1996-1998, the Pittsburgh Steelers chose one home game a year and designated it as Cleveland Browns day. On that day, Browns fans were welcomed into 3 Rivers Stadium. They didn't need the ticket sales, that place has been sold out since Terry Bradshaw got drafted. And that is possibly the classiest move in NFL history.
#3 Detroit
Jason Whitlock at ESPN wrote a great article about Detroit being sports town USA. He doth protest too much but his points are valid. I believe in Hockey Town, Denny McClain, Sparky Anderson, the Bad Boys, Barry Sanders, "Paper Tiger," and Ford Field.
So, are were starting to pick up on something here. There are a number of poor, rust belt Midwest cities which are constantly dismissed and derided by the media. These towns don't just watch sports, they consume sports to survive because there is simply nothing else. Is that sad? I don't know. I guess it depend on how important you believe that sports should be in a person's life. It depends on whether or not you believe that your love for sports can define you as a human being. There are entire cities that feel that way and credit is due. The best example is still to come before a quick digression to the greatest east coast sports town:
#2 Illidelphia
Philadelphia can tie its bad fortune to a title drought which began when Dr. J trimmed the afro. Long and painful it may be but the Ill lacks stand out heartbreaking moments to really punctuate the despair. The fandom is top notch all the way around. You can't walk anywhere in the city, any time of year without hearing an E-A-G-L-E-S chant. They take it on the road, too. Although, that chant can lead to an ass whupping or two. I mean if one were to theorectically start the chant in a blue collar Cleveland bar. I do wonder how many chants were going on when Rich "the brain" Kotite was calling the shots. They'd have been better off with Rich Little.
How about signature events? Wing Bowl. A blog post can never do it justice. The most repulsive, wonderful spectacle that you'll ever see. Then there's the annual AI brush with the DA's office. By the way, the new ballparks are all outstanding.
I won't go much further on that as I might could speculate that the Stu would want to refute my top ranking with yarns of Philly lore. So, I leave it for another day and another voice. I can promise that the third and final installment of this ranking will be the story of the greatest sports town in America. Until.
posted by Mister Cleveland Sports at 7:20 AM
3 Comments:
dude, what did i tell you about posting about cleveland? even the iron sheik would say it.
"philadelphia #1
cleveland - hack tooey!"
keep up the excellent work joel.
Cleveland? No Hockey team (not that it mattered last year). You haven't won in football since Otto Graham. So you have the L. James, the Mavs still get no respect (please see Carlos Boozer and Michael Redd). And the best Indians team in the last 50 years was in a movie. The only thing that Cleveland has going for it is the Cleveland Steamer, and what a tasty treat it is.
Besides having the three majors and Hockey. Philadelphia is one of the greatest boxing cities in the world (Joe Frazier, Bernard Hopkins, etc...), home to Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex, home to 5 Universities, and Rocky won an Academy Award (no awards for Major League). I rest my case.
Great blog, keep up the good work. Glad to see sites like this.
Here is another good site I said I would pass along.
Vegas Vacations
Thanks
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