Catching up on some blog homework... @lyxzen, @rambo, @missy...
I am and always have been a big sports fan. As a kid, I loved baseball and it still is my favorite sport. Once I was old enough to play Little League baseball, I lived and breathed baseball. In second grade I got low marks in citizenship because I was always talking. I sat near a bunch of my teammates on my first baseball team, Stars, a t-ball team. We were always talking, mostly about baseball. We were all excited to be playing and couldn't stop talking about it. When my mom saw my report card, she talked to my teacher and suggested that she split all of us up. That fixed the problem. Teacher, Ms. Kaufman, didn't know about the baseball team.
Ok, so on to my favorite teams...
MLB
Living in Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles, I was a Dodger fan. My dad took me to Dodger games occasionally. Back then, Jimmy Wynn was my favorite baseball player. He wasn't very big, like me - I was very small as a kid, and he played center field, which was the position I played in my last three Little League seasons. But once the Dodgers started breaking up the team... Steve Garvey went to the San Diego Padres, Davey Lopes left, Ron Cey, Steve Yeager, and Bill Russell retired. I became disenfranchised with the Dodgers. About the same time a new kid showed up at high school. Dennis was from Lincoln, Illinois (a town in central Illinois) and a St. Louis Cardinals fan. We became great friends and still are today even though we live on opposite sides of the country, and rarely talk on the phone. It was then, 1979/1980, that I switched allegiance and became a St. Louis Cardinals fan. I've never wavered in my dedication since.
Here I am in my Cardinals 2011 World Series Champions jersey.
NFL
For a time, I was a Los Angeles Rams fan. Somehow, through the company he worked for at the time, Kelty (manufacturer of backpacks and other camping/backpacking equipment), my dad knew defensive end, Fred Dryer. My dad would have lunch or dinner with him occasionally. He always gave my dad some Rams toys, like miniature golf carts with the Rams helmet or those little collectible NFL helmets to give to me and my brother. I think he also gave my dad preseason tickets once or twice as I remember going to the L.A. Colosseum once for a preseason game between the Rams and Raiders. I never did get to meet Fred Dryer, but if I had a favorite player on the Rams it was him (and Roman Gabriel). But my favorite NFL team is not the Rams, it's the Oakland (and hopefully sometime within the next couple of years Las Vegas) Raiders. I'm not sure why I switched allegiance. I just did. I'm excited to be a Raider fan because, after 14 years of futility since going to the Super Bowl (and getting blown out) in 2001, the Raiders seem to be on the verge of returning to winning ways.
NHL
Los Angeles Kings, all day every day since I was a kid. Even through all the bad years. I'll admit, while I lived in Virginia, I'd root for the Washington Capitals, but never over the Kings.
Now, my allegiance might change. There is a push to bring an expansion NHL team to Las Vegas. We have a suitable stadium, T-Mobile Arena, and an owner who has submitted the application for a franchise. He sold a ton of season tickets during the ticket drive to prove to the NHL that Las Vegas will support a team. It looks like the NHL will approve the application and we'll have NHL hockey in Las Vegas in time for the 2017-2018 season. If that happens, it'll be the first major sports franchise in Las Vegas and my allegiance will change. I will become a proud supporter and fan of the Las Vegas ???? - The owner hasn't decided on a team name yet, but he's partial to Black Knights, which I like. More likely, he'll have a naming contest among the season ticket holders and choose the one he likes best from those submitted. I'm not a season ticket holder, but I have a few ideas... Aces, Sidewinders, Thunderbirds, Vipers, Atoms, Stallions, Mustangs... All of which have reference to Las Vegas and/or Southern Nevada.
NBA
I've always been a Los Angeles Lakers fan. I grew up listening to Chick Hearn describing the basketball prowess of Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich and Jerry West, and later, Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper, James Worth, Kurt Rambis and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. I only saw one game live and Magic Johnson sat out with an injury. Disappointing because he was the reason I wanted to go to the game. I was a Laker fan until Kobe became a prima Donna and essentially forced the Lakers to trade Shaq. I've never forgiven him for that. I stopped rooting for the Lakers after that hoping they'd never win another championship until he retired or changed teams. They did win another championship with Kobe on the team, but I didn't celebrate it. As you can tell, I am not a Kobe Bryant fan. Now that he's retired, I can root for the Lakers once again.
FAVORITE PLAYERS
I had lots of favorite players as a kid... Almost all baseball players. I already mentioned Jimmy Wynn. Then Andy Van Slyke, right fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1980s. Later, it was Albert Pujols. His number is on the jersey in the photo above. Henry "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron was always a favorite. I met him at Magic Mountain in Valencia, CA (before Six Flags bought it) and got my picture taken with him. Dusty Baker was another favorite. I got his autograph at LA International Airport when they arrived home from a road trip. My mom, brother and I were picking up my dad from a business trip and the Dodgers plane landed at the same gate a little after my dad' plane arrived. Fortuitous! I wish I had the notion to get Vin Scully's autograph when he got off the plane, but as a kid, it's all about the players, not announcers, managers or coaches. Nolan Ryan was a favorite when he played for the Anaheim Angels. I got his autograph at a Valley Federal Savings Bank Grand Opening. I loved Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays, though I don't think I ever got to see them play live. Ozzy Smith was another favorite, but I never had the arm strength to play shortstop. Tony Gwynn was also a favorite. Classy man.
Currently, my favorite players are Randall Grichuk, center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, Bryce Harper, right fielder for the Washington Nationals (and Las Vegas native), Mike Trout, center fielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (I dislike that team name) Matt Carpenter, 3rd baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals and Stephen Piscotty, right fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. I still like Albert Pujols, even though he took the money to play for the Angels and didn't stay with the Cardinals, but I don't fault him for that. He had to do what he thought was best for him and his family, and the Angels were it. There are a lot of other players I really like around the league, but none more so than the players named above.
In other sports, I was always a big fan of Dan Marino, Brett Favre, Marcus Allen, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Kareem is a class act. One summer, probably 1981, I was working at a small pizza shack at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I was in back, probably taking inventory, ordering supplies for the next day or changing out a soft drink syrup canister or a CO2 tank. One of the girls, Debbie, came running in back, "Bill, Bill, there a guy out there. He's 10 feet tall!" Turns out it was Kareem. A couple of people went out and asked for his autograph after he ordered his food. They came back in without autographs. They said he told them that he was there with his family and wasn't signing autographs today, because if he signed one, he'd have to sign for everyone, and he just wanted to enjoy the day with his wife and kid(s). He wasn't an asshole about it like some celebrities and athletes get. Very classy. My respect for him as an athlete and person skyrocketed that day.
Well, those are my favorite teams and athletes. Thanks for reading.
Stay Tuned,
DeadGuitarist
