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Best Sports City?

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/post/F...?urn=top,93426

Quote:

Forget TitleTown: Where do you want to be a fan?
By Eamonn Brennan / Y! Sports Blogs
It's summer, which means at least one thing: ESPN is entertaining its masses (read: desperately grasping at ratings) with an American Idol-esque voting challenge. Last year, it was the execrable "Who's Now?", which pitted athletes against each other in some sort of nonsensical pop-culture tournament. True to form, ESPN has dubbed its 2008 feature "TitleTown." If you couldn't guess, its goal is to settle which city deserves to have the name "TitleTown," even though Green Bay's called itself TitleTown for years. Brilliant.

We couldn't let this market-oriented, advertiser-optimized, crowdsourced "brilliance" abide. Who cares about "TitleTown," anyway? Sure, titles are cool and all, but life is short, choices are shorter, and the real question is: Where are the best places for sports fans to live? Sorry, ESPN, but these are the real contenders:

Chicago

The good: Chicago is uniquely divided by its two baseball teams -- crosstown fervor here is matched only in New York -- and uniquely united by its Bears. Wrigley Field remains one of the world's great sporting destinations, U.S. Cellular Field is a modern baseball standard, Soldier Field is recently renovated and the United Center housed some guy named Michael Jordan. Throw in a local recreational sporting tradition -- 16-inch softball leagues are terrifyingly competitive here -- and Chicago's a near-perfect place to live if you love sports.

The bad: Besides the Bulls, "winning" isn't exactly a habit in Chicago.

The ugly: Jay Mariotti; the weather.

New York

The good: New York is the epicenter of modern basketball tradition. Madison Square Garden is a shrine. Rucker Park is a mecca. The Yankees are sports' most successful all-time franchise, one with the financial clout (and, suddenly, the organizational intelligence) to compete any year they please. The Mets offer a slightly cuddlier alternative. The Giants, in case you haven't heard, had a bit of a successful Super Bowl this year, and the Jets' fan base is as devoted as any in sports. As in all things, there's not much New York doesn't offer, especially when it comes to sports. Oh, and street hoops are awesome.

The bad: Ironic hipster kickball -- not so awesome. Fans delight in booing their favorite players. Crowded. Expensive.

The ugly: Shea Stadium; pretty much everyone who likes sports in New York.

Los Angeles

The good: The weather. Duh. Beyond the ability to play rec sports outdoors all year long, Los Angeles offers two high-profile collegiate programs, a rarity not found in most big cities, and one which helps negate the lack of a professional football team. Under ultimate dude Pete Carroll, USC is both entertaining and dominant, and UCLA's basketball program is one of the top five in the country (and the best of all time). Don't forget the Lakers and the Clippers -- one the glitzy, star-ridden uber-team, the other a lovable (if incredibly cheap) underdog.

The bad: The notion of having to drive to various stadiums makes this writer shudder. Also, no professional football team. Does L.A. really not care about the NFL?

The ugly: Lack of breathable air makes chances of surviving aforementioned pickup basketball game minute.

Boston

The good: Hate it or not, Boston's teams have won, and won, and won. The Patriots are a dynasty (albeit a potentially fading one), the Red Sox are the best-run franchise in Major League Baseball and the Celtics just cleaned up on their way to a 17th NBA title. The latter two teams have some of the best tradition in sports -- Fenway Park is beautiful, and even the most ardent Lakers fan can smile at old clips of Red Auerbach.

The bad: Where to start. Were you to move to Boston, you'd be forced to put up with the most annoying fans in the history of the planet, people that "suffered" and "anguished" for "80" years before they totally earned that first Sawx title. Because of that "anguish," those fans now believe success is a birthright, and have become everything they once hated -- Yankees fans.

The ugly: Pink hats at Fenway. Everyone in Boston sports media not named Gordon Edes. Hooded sweatshirts with the sleeves chopped off.

Atlanta

The good: Atlanta offers the big three in fine fashion -- the Braves are one of the more successful baseball franchises in the country, the Hawks (stay with me here) are an idiosyncratic basketball junkie's dream and the Falcons are, well, they used to have Michael Vick, and that was pretty cool. Not sure what happened there. Beyond pro sports, though, Atlanta sits at the nexus of SEC country, a short drive from the country's most raucous college football stadiums. "Where do we want to tailgate this week? UGA? Knoxville?" Just thinking about it sounds incredible.

The bad: Atlanta has pro sports teams, and, besides the Braves, they happen to be terrible.

The ugly: Navigating southern roads after a day of tailgating.

Austin

The good: University of Texas offers a giant campus full of recreational sports, while UT's basketball and football programs consistently flaunt top of the line athletes. Where better to see budding lottery picks like Kevin Durant than in Rick Barnes' talent factory? What's more, Austin isn't an overwhelmingly large city but is within driving distance of the following professional franchises: San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Houston Texans, Houston Astros, Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars. If high school sports are your thing, well, Texas is as crazy about high school sports as Friday Night Lights' author is about blogs.

The bad: Gas prices are high enough, and the Spurs are sort of boring.

The ugly: There's at least a 50 percent chance The Real World will show up there at any moment, and we're not here to make friends, OK?

Raleigh

The good: Raleigh, like Austin, sits at the sort of nexus that gives the well-rounded sports fan something of everything. Want NASCAR? North Carolina freaks for NASCAR. Want college basketball? Duke and North Carolina are literally minutes away. Want the NFL and NBA? Charlotte is just over yonder. Want golf? Because of its sprawling but not-too-urban nature, Raleigh has a tremendous recreational culture and the golf courses to match.

The bad: If you can't stand the Duke-UNC rivalry, Raleigh's probably not for you.

The ugly: No comment.

Re: Best Sports City?

I have to go with Boston. The atmosphere there during baseball season is incredible, and they are undyingly loyal to their teams.

Re: Best Sports City?

New York City.....and no one else is even close.

If you haven't won a SuperBowl and a World Series, you don't even qualify.

Re: Best Sports City?

This list is not worth the 1's and 0's used to create it.

Austin? Really? It's 'close' to Houston and Dallas.....big deal. The city of Houston has a couple of NBA titles because Jordan took a couple seasons off. Thats a helluva claim to title town.

Boston is close based on the Pats and Sox over the last decade, now add the C's.

New York has done well with the Yanks and now the G-Men.

LA doesn't even have football, and its baseball team that won a title recently is actually in Anaheim.

Chicago had Jordan in the 90's, but they also had Erik Kramer at QB for the Bears, and the Cubs don't even have people who have grandparents who know when their last title came.

Stupid stupid stupid list generated by a stupid stupid stupid company.

Re: Best Sports City?

I'd have to go with Los Angeles and New York as the top two.

Look at the history of Los Angeles...the Dodgers, Lakers, Angels nearby, USC football and baseball, and UCLA basketball.

New York is right there too with 26 World Series titles by the Yankees, the Mets, Giants, and the Knicks.

Re: Best Sports City?

LA is "Title-town"
The Lakers, UCLA (not just basketball, they are dominant in many sports), USC, the Dodgers, etc...

NY has the Yanks, Giants, and the '80's Islanders; but most of the other teams have been disappointing. The Nets, Jets, Mets, Rangers, and Knicks have won 5 titles in the last 30 years. Plus they really don't have any good college teams.

Re: Best Sports City?

It sure as heck is not LA. To be the BEST sports city you have to have fans who at least care. Dodger goers don't even show up until the 3rd inning and they are gone by the 8th. Laker fans are mainly at the games to star gaze.

If you don't like the team, all fans are annoying. I say that because I can't stand the typical Boston sports fan. But like them or not they are as passionate, knowledgable and loyal as any fans out there. The Celtics weren't hurting in the ticket sale department, even in 07 when they were about the worst team in the league. There is no better enviroment than Fenway and we all know about the experience of being a Pats fan. Boston has hosted the Ryder Cup and perhaps the best US Open ever played.

On top of all that, Boston is a college town. You can watch ACC basketball and football (Big East before that) and the best college hockey in the nation with Hockey East. If you are factoring in how good the teams currently are as well as history, fans, enviroment and all the other stuff that has been discussed, I don't see how it is anywhere but Boston, at the moment. Plenty of towns have the history but simply don't have the current success.

Re: Best Sports City?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaineRed (Post 1691702)

It sure as heck is not LA. To be the BEST sports city you have to have fans who at least care. Dodger goers don't even show up until the 3rd inning and they are gone by the 8th.

Traffic is to blame for that too, especially getting to the game.. the 101 is a pain.

No mention of The Bay Area?

2 football teams, 2 baseball teams, a hockey team, soccer team, basketball team and several major colleges.

Oceans, mountain biking, the weather is always great.

Re: Best Sports City?

I think the author weighed recent success too much in this evaluation. To me, the best sports city is the one with the best environment, fans, and franchises. I was suprised to see Detroit not mentioned, but I guess hockey doesn't matter...

Re: Best Sports City?

My Boston friends have become pretty obnoxious the past couple of years. If the Pats had won, I am afraid I couldn't stand to be around them much anymore.:)

Re: Best Sports City?

Ready for some bias?

So, Austin's better than Gainesville?

Re: Best Sports City?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joseph (Post 1691667)

No joke....if Austin is being used like this then why not Columbus? OSU sports have been as successful, if not more successful than Texas and Columbus is within a short drive of Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis (all within 2 hrs).

Re: Best Sports City?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gainesville Red (Post 1692390)

Ready for some bias?

So, Austin's better than Gainesville?

It wasn't just because of the college programs... what major pro franchises is Gainesville so close to?

Re: Best Sports City?

Quote:

Originally Posted by *BaseClogger* (Post 1692401)

It wasn't just because of the college programs... what major pro franchises is Gainesville so close to?

The article said "driving distance."

I'll claim ignorance to how far in actual distance Austin is to major franchises. I'm too lazy to google it.

But Gainesville is "driving distance" from the Magic, Jaguars, Bucs, Lightning and Rays. (with in and hour and a half to two hours.)

I won't claim any being as "storied" as the Cowboys, but being at a Bucs game is pretty good, and they have a more recent Super Bowl win. As do the Lightning. (Although obviously not a Super Bowl.)

I've never been to Austin, I hear good things. I don't want it to sound like I'm throwing them under the bus. I said there's a bias, and finished the original post with a question mark.

Re: Best Sports City?

Quote:

Originally Posted by improbus (Post 1691693)

The Nets, Jets, Mets, Rangers, and Knicks have won 5 titles in the last 30 years.

Don't forget the Islanders, too. They host the U S Open in Tennis, too. Some of the greatest boxing matches have occurred at Madison Square Garden, the greatest sport of all sports. And the Beatles arrived in the U. S. and played at Yankee Stadium.

Ticker tape parades occur in New York City for a reason. That's the city you want to be a part of when you win a Championship.

LA has never won a SuperBowl, so they don't even qualify.

How can you be the #1 Sports Town without a SuperBowl trophy (or even a team during the year you're trying to claim the name of titletown)?