Two weeks ago I asked readers to submit their stories about how they became fans of teams, which I would publish at a later date. That column ran on Sunday, but there wasn’t enough room for all your stories, or for the story about how I became a fan of the Arsenal soccer team. So here’s the rest of the reader submissions. Thank you all so much for your responses!
I’m going to use editorial license and begin with a story from a fellow Duke fan:
Susan Heath, Lake Stevens
Mike Krzyzewski is the reason I love the Duke Blue Devils. He compassionate, strict, and the guy has integrity. He jells with his team and is always cool as a cucumber. Well, after 30 years, usually cool as a cucumber.
Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Cherokee Parks (remember him), I could not wait until that Monday, the Championship game! I wore a blue satin Duke jacket the month of March. April 6, 1992 (best birthday present ever), beat Michigan.
Last night watching the game a friend said to me, “A good Irish Catholic girl like you not rooting for Notre Dame?” I said, “It’s Duke!” Always been a Duke fan.
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Here’s a story in which becoming a fan of a team is a result of a player:
Aaron Wilson, Sedro-Woolley
I grew up in Sedro-Woolley, not exactly a hotbed of hockey and more than a few miles away from the city of Pittsburgh. I became a hockey fan somewhat randomly when I picked up CBC during the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals between Edmonton and Philadelphia. I was hooked, but didn’t have a team to root for. Seattle had no NHL team and the Vancouver Canucks didn’t really have a presence in that area.
So, I looked elsewhere for a team to call my own. By 1988, Mario Lemieux was beginning to dominate the league offensively on a scale only seen by Wayne Gretzky. Something about his style of the play, his creativity and pure offensive talent had me hooked, as well as the team around him.
I tried following games as closely as possible and even attended my first live game between the Pens and Canucks in Vancouver that season. My fandom was rewarded three years later when the Pens won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992.
After that, the team hit a dry spell, but I continued on with my fandom, making trips out of state on several occasions to watch the team in person, even when the players were nowhere near the caliber of old. Fortune would shine back in the early 2000s as the team picked up Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin and some kid named Sidney Crosby to be reborn as the team everyone knows now. I had to endure some accusations of being a Crosby bandwagon fan, but I knew the truth.
The ironic thing is as much as I love the Penguins, it is balanced by my complete and utter disdain of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don’t know if possible to love one team from a city and hate one from that same city, but I do it.
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Family often plays a role in the teams we root for, so I was glad to get a response that involves family:
Jamie Johnson, Shoreline
So I’m not sure that I have one specific “life-changing” event where I became a sports fan. For me, sports have always been a part of my life. My brother, who’s 5 years older than me, was an avid baseball player and I spent countless days and nights sitting on splintered bleachers watching him play. Of course, I wanted to be just like my older brother, so as soon as I was old enough to sign up for Little League, I was right there with my Dave Winfield-signed glove and my hat.
As I grew older, I continued to play sports (high school softball, competitive tennis). My one true love has always been the Seattle Mariners. Even in the Kingdome days (remember the magic of 1995? I can still hear Dave calling the game). There’s something about baseball that is so pure, the feeling I get being at the ballpark isn’t one I can describe easily. It’s a peaceful, content feeling. The boys of summer really turn Seattle into a magical place when they’re in town, and there isn’t a better place to catch a game than at Safeco Field.
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I’m a former Everett Silvertips beat writer, so I was glad someone shared their story about becoming a Tips fan:
Karen Dickson, Stanwood
I didn’t know a thing about hockey!
When the Tips came to town that first year a group of friends decided to go to opening night. So I went along not knowing what to expect and I fell in love, was hooked the first period! My husband and I went to all the games the first season sitting in different sections until we found the spot we chose as our “second home” during hockey season. We have been season-ticket holders since season two and I have not lost my love for the game!
Our two grandsons play hockey, they started skating at 18 months — one went to his first Tips game at the age of 2 months, the other was 4 months. They are now 8 and 11 and hope to play for the Tips one day.
And oh yeah, my favorite NHL team is the Anaheim Ducks. Why? Because I love the Mighty Ducks movies!
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Finally, Jeff Walyus had two stories. One was shared in the paper, this is his other one:
Jeff Walyus, Arlington, Virginia
As a kid I hated football — I was a soccer player and thought football was incredibly boring. Then in 1980 my brother was in his freshman year at the University of Maryland, and part of our trip down for Parents’ weekend involved going to the football game, where the Terps were hosting Wake Forest. My parents asked me to give going to the game a chance and that we could leave early if I hated it. We got to the game and … I loved it, completely fell in love with the game.
Then we got home and I decided I needed to pick a pro team to root for, so I asked my neighbor, Sal Cardella (could there be a more perfect name for an Eagles story?), for his advice. I mentioned that where we were a lot of kids were into the Jets or Giants, but of course the Cowboys and Steelers were good, too. Sal just shook his head and said, “Jeff, if you want a cool team, root for the Eagles.”
And as simple as that they became my team and I never looked back. The fact that they went on to the Super Bowl that season didn’t hurt, either — although I’m kicking myself to this day for leaving at halftime of the NFC Championship game against Dallas to go see Flash Gordon at the movies with my buddy and his sister. Hey, I was 10 and my judgment wasn’t the best. Little did I know it would be the last playoff game my team would win for a decade. At least Flash was a fun movie, even if Rod Martin’s three interceptions of Ron Jaworski would ruin my birthday party a few weeks later.
Funny end note to the story: I’ve lost touch with him over the years, but I’m 99-percent sure that Sal was never even an Eagles fan …
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