Last night the Dallas Mavericks beat out the Miami Heat for the NBA Championship. I could really care less for the most part, but a part of me truly was glad to see it turn out that way. Why you may ask. Well, even though I have no rooting interest what-so-ever in the NBA, don't watch games at all, and could care less if the league folded today to never re-open, I really didn't want to see Lebron James win a championship. His 1-hour, all about me, spectacle on ESPN where he basically held a few teams and their fan bases hostage while he made an ass out of himself, the league, and EPSN with his "all about me" crap just made him one of those guys that put himself above everything else and made him someone I never want to see succeed.
That outcome certainly brought a bit of a smile this morning, though brief and other than this post I am again past caring about the egos and the rather boring game of the NBA, but it did also spark the idea behind this post. In nearly every league there are teams that I just can't stand for one reason or another, teams that I don't want to see succeed even if I don't follow those leagues. Previously I mentioned how I hated the Canucks and the Red Wings in a purely hockey related post. Here I will touch on teams from other leagues that I can't stand.
Let's start in the NCAA as Husker football is probably my second favorite thing behind hockey to watch in the sports world. As a Husker fan I've always cheered hard against Oklahoma and Colorado, but those were more rivalries for me. To find teams that I disliked you had to go to Texas, where I don't care for any team other than TCU which for whatever reason I have always enjoyed cheering for. For pure hatred though you would have to either head East where any Florida team can be found on my despised list or West to California where you'll find USC. Both USC and the Florida teams I just can't stand, in part because they were good and up there regularly but also because there is so much national attention for those teams and everyone goes on about how great they are. Their fans also get on my nerves spouting just how great they are compared to everyone else. Yes, there are other programs that are this way (Michigan, Ohio State, etc...), but it is the Florida schools and USC that really get on my bad side.
In the NBA you're not going to find many teams that I care enough about to say anything honestly. The Heat got their hate this year because of "King" Lebron, but beyond that I'm not a fan of the Lakers. They, much like many on this list, made their way there because no matter where you go people root for the Lakers because they are the team to beat and you just hear all about how great they are. They were good, but who cares in basketball where you can try to buy your championships by just buying a couple of star players.
Moving back to football and the NFL, there really aren't many teams that I hate. Yes, I dislike the Broncos strongly but that could be because I didn't care for them being a '9ers fan and living this close to Denver they are all you see and hear about. However I don't hate them. I also don't hate the Cowboys either even though I strongly dislike them and many of the teams in that division.
On to baseball and the Yankees are definitely the team that I hate. Again, they are everywhere and everyone talks about how great they are. However it isn't that hard to be great when you are buying every player you can get your hands on, having a payroll that is three to five times that of most teams and your average player salary is a million dollars more than the 2nd team on the list and 6 times that of the lower teams. On top of trying to buy championships and being everywhere, they really aren't that great a team to be deserving of all the attention they get either. The Red Sox are starting to rival the Yankees to an extent as well.
There really aren't a lot of teams in any sport that I truly hate. Some of my hatred does come from rivalries but as can be seen much of it comes from teams being overexposed and "cherished" beyond the normal area for a team, and often not deservedly so and by fair weather fans that don't always care unless the team is winning. Players that have over the top egos or organizations that attempt to buy their championships every year also find their way onto my radar and their teams could end up being rooted against even if I normally wouldn't care as well. Take James and the Heat ... had it not been for the ridiculous 1 hour waste of time all about him and his choice on ESPN I wouldn't have cared at all about the NBA finals, but given that stupidity I had a definite pleasure in seeing him fail this year.
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