Baseball

Favorite team growing up: Houston Astros

What?! Why? (a) They had some pitchers that I liked and (b) Tequila Sunrise uniforms

Still like them? No. Why would I?  The only place I’ve been in Houston is the airport.  Plus, yucky NL.

Favorite team now: Detroit Tigers

Why would you do this to yourself? I adopted them while I was in grad school (one year of which was the year they won five of their last six to avoid tying the record for most losses in a season).

Are they good now? Definitively mediocre.  They have some good players but lots of bad ones and albatross contracts they should never have made.  They should be a playoff contender but aren’t terribly scary.

Football

Favorite team growing up: Denver Broncos (uh, obviously)

What?! Why? Grew up in Montana, where Broncos were “local.”  They were my parents’ team, so easy to adopt.

Still like them? Yes! But now I live far away and never get to see them.

Why would you do this to yourself? I’ve been through my whole life with them.  Super Bowl losses and wins.  I can’t just quit them, even if I wanted to.

Are they good now? Oh, goodness, no.  This will be their worst year since 1968.  They have a dearth of elite players, coaching is in transition, and not much immediate hope.  Uh, go team.

College football/basketball

Favorite team growing up: Didn’t care about college sports.

Favorite team now: Montana Grizzlies

Why would you do this to yourself? Went to school there, and they are suitably small and unknown that I can like them and be all snobby and elitist about it.

Are they good now? The football team is a classic big fish in a small pond, being in the ridiculously named Football Championship Subdivision.  They routinely win the conference and compete for the national title at that level.  The basketball team is usually very competitive in their conference and occasionally show up in the NCAAs, but that’s about all one can hope for.

Pro basketball

Ha-ha, no, of course not.