I’ve wanted to post in this thread for a WHILE but haven’t had time to sit down and compile a list that I felt properly described my love of sports.
My biggest fandom is the Michigan Wolverines, who have just won their first National Championship since 1997, when I was 10 years old. I cried when I called my dad last night, as I watched the clock tick from 00:00 to FINAL. I am still pinching myself, to be honest. My dad’s family is from Cheboygan, Michigan, so I’ve grown up a fan of all Michigan sports since before I can remember. This is the best football year of my entire life. We beat Ohio State, Ohio State lost their bowl game, AND we’re National Champions?! AND the Detroit Lions are relevant this year?! The only thing that could make this better would be the Lions winning the Super Bowl.
That leads into the Detroit Lions being my favorite NFL team, followed by the Philadelphia Eagles. I’ve been a Lions fan since a toddler in the Barry Sanders era, and my dad took me to a Lions game when I was 2 or 3 years old. He said I was screaming with a slightly scared face until I realized everyone was screaming in joy and excitement, and then I joined right in. My Eagles fandom is very new, and is a nod to how important Philadelphia is to our family, since we went there to have Nicholas’ fetal surgery. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is the reason our son is doing as well as he is as far as his Spina Bifida is concerned.
Going to basketball, my NBA team is the Dallas Mavericks. I started watching the Mavs back in 2010 when Dirk Nowitzki was still with them and have followed them ever since. The 76ers have become my second NBA team, because of our ties to Philly. Back in the Michael Jordan days, I was a Bulls fan (who wasn’t lol), but after he really retired, I didn’t really have a team for a while. I remember playing NBA Jam on SNES and we had a rule among my friend group that no one was allowed to be the Bulls because everyone wanted to be the Bulls. So, I always picked the Pistons, and I still do when I play. Something still feels wrong about picking the Bulls because of our friend rule. I grew up being a Pistons fan, because it’s the Michigan team, and I do still like the Pistons, but knowing how much Michael Jordan is NOT a fan of them makes it hard to latch on to them as an adult, because I’m 100% a Michael Jordan fan.
In baseball, I grew up being a Detroit Tigers fan, because it’s the Michigan team. I still love the Tigers because of the sentimentality and because they are a classic baseball team, but I haven’t followed them as closely in recent years. I do still buy Tigers gear though, and I do still love them. In high school, I was a Boston Red Sox fan - David Ortiz man, who could argue his greatness? I was a Cleveland Indians fan from about 2015-2019, with a peak in 2016 when they almost won the World Series, but the name change for them really deflated it for me. I didn’t even recognize them as the same sport when I first saw their new name! I was like, who are the Guardians? Must be an indoor football team. That moment made me realize that the tie of familiarity was severed. My husband is a life-long St. Louis Cardinals fan, so I pull for them, but I think after watching the Phillies last year, and seeing how much Bryce Harper has really found his home in Philly, and knowing how much the Phillies do for charity and for kids, I’m a Phillies fan. We would have gotten to go to a Phillies game for free last year when we were staying at Ronald McDonald House for one of Nicholas’ procedures, but it was in the middle of summer, and he had casts on and was recovering and we had to head back to Ohio. It just didn’t work out, but they give a number of tickets to Ronald McDonald house for the families there, and that’s pretty cool.
In hockey, I am a Detroit Red Wings fan, and have been since childhood. They have such a rich history as one of the classic hockey teams and I love having grown up a fan. My husband is a St. Louis Blues fan, and we watched them win the Stanley Cup in 2019. It was their first time winning a Stanley Cup and my husband was like, “I don’t know what to do, we‘ve never won!” I replied, “You go online and buy a jersey before they sell out, that’s what you do.” XD
I am NOT a soccer fan, at all. But I know enough about it to know that Manchester United is the Yankees of soccer, and that I don’t like either of them lol. My husband is an Arsenal fan, and if I had to pick a team, I’d pick Leicester City, strictly because their mascot is a fox.
I was not a tennis fan until meeting my husband, but I did watch it occasionally and would always pull for Roger Federer and Serena Williams. In recent years, I’ve rooted for Rafael Nadal. He is amazing to watch play and he’s not a whiny jerk (looking at you, Novak Djokovic).
I only recently got into Formula 1, but Max Verstappen is my F1 favorite. Cool, calm, awesome driver. And doesn’t blame his crew when he loses (cough, Lewis Hamilton, cough).
I can’t think of a sport that I missed that I have a vested interest in, but if I come up with one that I missed, I’ll add it.
In the meantime, I practice chipping with a sand iron in the backyard daily. 
I remember was rooting for Jason Brown that year.
