I Don't Like Bandwagons

I was born in Mountain View, California. Point 1.

I lived from 2-6 years old in Spring, Texas. Point 2.

I lived from 6-22 years old in Castle Rock, Colorado. Point 3.

Sporadically, I lived in Rexburg, Idaho for five months for college. Point 4.

I lived in and around Orlando, Florida for two years (aged 19-21). Point 5.

I currently live in Reno, Nevada. Point 6.

I have allegiances in sports. I am loyal to the teams I support and cannot support other teams no matter how hard I try. It does not make moral sense.

Derived from point 1:

I am a fan of the San Francisco 49ers. They are my grandpa’s team. They are my team. I am the only person allowed to change the channel on my grandpa’s television because he knows if changed, it will go to sports. We watched the 49ers play on Thanksgiving Day. Sadly, I fell asleep. I was tired.

At one point, when I knew nothing else about hockey I was a fan of the San Jose Sharks and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (well done on your marketing plan, Disney).

Derived from point 2:

 I am a fan of the Houston Astros. Baseball is a tradition that is American as much as chocolate chip cookies. In my developmental years, I grew to love everything about the Astros. If I had grown up around another team, I wouldn’t like the Astros. Especially given their recent love for sucking terribly. Dustin is loyal to the Oakland Athletics because he grew up around the A’s. He does not really care much for the Astros. I can’t blame him. That is his choice and when the Astros went to the World Series in 2005, I watched every minute of those games. He didn’t care. I respect that about my brother.

Honestly, I do not care much for basketball. I will watch. I play NBA2K12. I play fantasy basketball. I fill out my bracket. Otherwise, I could care less how many times Kobe wins the NBA Championship. Regardless I own a Clyde Drexler Rockets jersey. I loosely follow the Houston Rockets. They did win 2 championships while I lived there after all (the second was won on the day we moved (I call their lack of championships since the “Kendall Kurse”)).

Derived from point 3:

Upon moving to the metro Denver area in 1995, I found my most profound affiliation that I maintain. It just so happened that the summer I moved to Colorado, the Colorado Avalanche also moved to Colorado (formerly being the Quebec Nordiques). I knew about 2 cents worth about hockey. My dad decided to have “boys’ night out” and took us to a preseason Avalanche game versus the Mighty Ducks. As I mentioned before, I liked the Ducks. About 2 cents worth. Well more or less, the Avalanche won and I liked that, and I have been a fan since. I remember when they won their first cup in triple overtime. We were driving home from a Rockies game when Uwe Krupp netted the game winner from the point. We listened on the radio. I read the box score for every single last game that they play. I am happy when the Red Wings lose. In fact, every person wearing a red Detroit jersey I see, I automatically hate. I do not waiver in my liking of the Avalanche; I do not and cannot support any other hockey team.

Every chance I get, I go to their games. Tickets are stinking expensive and I’m in college and I don’t live in town, so there are many factors as to why I don’t go as much as Don Hotshot who has season tickets on the glass. But I support. Mary’s favorite team is the Avalanche.    

That covers the 4 major sports. Well, sixteen years is a long time to live somewhere with only one religious (sports are religion) affiliation, especially with reading the Denver Post sports section every single day for those sixteen years. *My mom told me she either had to get the newspaper or ESPN for me or she would be in jail for life for strangling me. She really does love me; I’m just unbearable to live with without sports.

The easiest choice to float to would be the Broncos. Everyone I know from Denver is a Broncos fan and I only had that small connection to the 49ers. No thank you. I think the Broncos are a joke. I think John Elway is a joke. *gasp!

So then the next logical choice would be the Nuggets, right? Well all I remember of first grade is a boy in my class that wore a Nuggets Starter jacket every day and he smelled like poop. Not up my alley. Plus, they were terrible the first few years I lived there. They had one of the worst records of all time and who do they draft to make their team better? Raef LaFrentz? Good call, good call.  

Well turns out, I started to like the Rockies a lot. They weren’t that good of a team either. But that was dispelled with my strong interest in the Avalanche. You have one good team; you can have a small amount of interest in another. Well coming from a baseball family, I read about baseball every day. And coming from a baseball family, I attended baseball games all summer. I guess that could attribute to the fact that I don’t like the Nuggets or Broncos; I’ve never been to either of their games. My parents didn’t believe in cable so the only baseball I got to watch was the World Series and the Rockies on the weekends on UPN. I guess that contributed. But I think most of all was when my dad decided to go all in and buy tickets like mad. I went to so many Rockies games, I couldn’t not love them. I know their 40 man roster up and down. And I am a fan. As much as the Astros? Slightly, no. But I am a fan of the Rockies.

Derived from point 4:

 I went clinically insane for 5 months without any good sports.

Derived from point 5:

I guess I think the Magic are cool. They have a pretty good team. Do I go out of my way to follow them? Not really. When I lived in Kissimmee I lived down the street from the spring training complex of the Astros. That was one of the coolest sights I saw every day. Unfortunately the fates didn’t align that I could go to a game. It still is a dream of mine to go see the Astros in spring training.

Derived from point 6:

 I started to really hate the San Francisco Giants when I moved to Reno. They had just won the World Series and everyone and their dog talked about how good they are. Big whoop. Did you support them before they got lucky? Not too many did. Then I found this shirt in Colorado:

Truth. I believe my love for the Rockies has grown out of spite to all the Giants bandwagoners.  
Also, I am a part of the Wolf Pack. That means I hate UNLV, Boise St. and I really don't care for any other school's sports. Yes, I don't really care what seeding BYU gets. Do I care that Nevada didn't even make the tourney despite having a great record? Yes. Do I love the Pistol? Clearly.

I hate Toms. I had a pair of shoes like Toms in prison. Oh let me shell out 54 dollars for a new set of fabric and rubber. No thank you. I can supply a kid in a starving country with a new pair of Jordans that will last him longer and ultimately cost less. It’s like sending a can of corn to every homeless person for every can of corn I buy. Oh great a can of corn will get you through the night. Then what? I suppose it’s every college student’s dream, to make that difference with a ramen sized budget. Be careful you don’t break your ankles when you jump off the Toms bandwagon.

I refuse to listen to the radio. I don’t like being told which songs are good. I know which songs are good by listening to which songs I want to listen to. Have you heard of Built to Spill? No, but all those bands you think are so cool listen to them.

One last note, Jackson if all of the sudden you jump on the heater bandwagon and decide you want the heater on all the time I will put your goldfish in your bed. I love having the heater at 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Jackson loves having the A/C on at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Do we compromise as good roommates should?? Well if you call compromise me blasting the heater then Jackson blasts the A/C, then yes we compromise with the best of them.

"And

The white milk dripped down with the blood,

And the boyfriend fell down dead for good."

- Carolina Drama - The Raconteurs