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Love the Hurricanes if you can't tell from my screen name. Also love the Checkers.
Interestingly for pro basketball my favorite team is the 2011 champion Dallas Mavericks. I was a Hornets fan as a kid, but did not follow the team when they went to New Orleans. At that time the Mavs were the up and coming team in the league, so I started rooting for them. Since Jordan bought the team I'm a little more interested in the Bobcats.
Not really a big pro football fan, can't really put my finger on why. I was kind of a Cowboys fan as a kid despite living in Redskins territory. I watch the Panthers but I'm not die-hard.
Baseball wise I root for the Braves but again I'm not die-hard. I also like the Rangers. I actually like the minors better, probably because it's more affordable.
Even though a lot of my family are UNC fans, I root for NCSU.
I don't care about the Panthers or the Bobcats because I don't live in Charlotte. I live in the Triangle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tmasek73
When Raleigh gets additional professional teams other then hockey perhaps I may be persuaded to root for them, but until then....
Maybe one day sports (minor, major, and college) will realize that there is no such thing as a "North Carolina" sports market. NC is made up of SEVERAL different markets when it comes to sports. People tend to be fans of their local team (ie, Boone App. State, Greenville ECU, Raleigh Canes/NCSU etc). The only team that seems to have a following throughout the state is UNC Chapel Hill (this is due to NC once being a "Kentucky-ish/Mississippi-ish" state and UNC was the only thing North Carolinians had to be proud of). Few people in NC even realize that larger northern states call this state a "college market" as an insult (NOT a compliment).
As for the Panthers/Bobcats, they play in Charlotte. Therefore, it is up to Charlotte to support these teams (same goes for Raleigh and the Canes).
FWIW, here are the most recent attendance stats for all three pro teams in NC.
Keep in mind that the Panthers were the worst team in the NFL last season, yet still had better attendance than the Super Bowl Champs Green Bay. Clearly the Panthers do so well in attendance (IMO) because BOTH states (NC/SC) consider the Panthers to be their own. The Bobcats and Canes have failed badly at making South Carolinians feel like they are part of these teams. The Panthers on the other hand has NC, SC, and the American flags flying over the stadium.
All sizes | Bank of America Stadium and Center | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/flc/480457100/sizes/l/in/photostream/ - broken link)
^^^This is just good marketing on the part of Jerry Richardson. The Panthers also have their training camp in Spartanburg SC. Their very first season was played in upstate SC as well.
Born and raised in NC and have always been a Tar Heel fan. Also used to be a big Charlotte Hornets fan.
Remember that the Hornets used to have one of the highest attendance in the NBA during the 90s even though the team never made it to the Finals and Charlotte was much smaller than it is today.
People aren't going to Bobcats games for several reasons. The arena was built against taxpayer will, the team is bad, and the core franchise (Hornets) was replaced with one that area residents just have no pride in or desire to support. Most are still bitter about the Hornets leaving.
Panthers are doing well attendance-wise and I follow them. I was happy to see NC get a NFL team back when they expanded. I don't follow MLB but will probably start watching if NC gets a team.
The Hurricanes are the only team we have that has won its sport's championship but I have no interest in hockey.
Not sure we'll ever be fans of anyone other than New England/Boston sports. I could see my husband getting into college basketball since it seems to be so big down there, and he'll root for UNC (mainly in the hopes that our kids become fans and want to go there for "in-state" tuition). However, in our house, it'll be Patriots, Bruins, Red Sox and Celtics all the way!
You have to have faith. Just like Football these owners and the League has way to much to lose if they don't play. So until the season doesn't happen, I think there will be a season.
As far as the Mets, the season is still young.
The season is in its mid-life mode since we just had the All-Star break. The Mets shedding K-Rod because of his salary for next year doesn't help the team this year.
And the NBA is in much worse trouble than the NFL. When you have big name basketball players saying they may go play overseas, it says something about how they view the future season of the NBA.
I've been in NC for 6 years now, and the only time I've went to see the Panthers play football was when the Jets were in town.
I' can't recall the last time I actually watched a Charlotte Bobcats game on TV. I'm going to the RBC in October to see them play but not because they are playing but because they are playing Dwayne Wades Team and his sidekick LeBum James.
My neighbors give me crap all the time because I refuse to support the hometown team. Who else is from elsewhere and became a Panthers or Bobcats fan.
as a young south carolinian in 1993-1994, the panthers were extremely unlikeable. I disliked them, their blatantly "North Carolina" colors, ugly uniforms, ugly logo, stupid mascot, jackass coach, no-name players, and the fact that they called themselves "Carolina" instead of "Charlotte."
that was a long time ago, and over the years i've softened up. i pull for them, sort of.
Quote:
Originally Posted by urbancharlotte
Few people in NC even realize that larger northern states call this state a "college market" as an insult (NOT a compliment).
I realize it, but it doesn't mean that they know what they are talking about. It's a matter of opinion, and theirs doesn't matter to me.
Remember that the Hornets used to have one of the highest attendance in the NBA during the 90s even though the team never made it to the Finals and Charlotte was much smaller than it is today.
"When we went to Phoenix for the NBA meeting [in 1987], there was an article in the Phoenix paper -- the headline actually said, ‘The only franchise Charlotte, North Carolina, was going to get was the golden arches,' " Sabates says. "And by God, a week later we had a franchise, so we made those people eat their words."
College sports are great, but there is still a perception out there that a state is "Mayberry-ish" if it supports colleges moreso than the pros. Southern states tend to be very college oriented (think SC, Alabama, Mississippi, NC etc) simply because the traditional south is full of markets that are too small to support multiple pro teams. Heck, if one goes into the small towns down south, one will learn quickly that high school sports are the most popular games in town.
With that said, southern cities that make a pro sports effort need to be supported. It helps both the perception of the state and business growth in the state. This doesn't mean that folks should stop supporting colleges. It simply means that NC could do a much better job at supporting teams like the Canes and Bobcats. In the defense of the Canes, it is a hockey team trying to build support down south. In the Bobcats defense, it is a 2nd basketball team that is trying to win over the die hards from the first team. The Panthers is a team that doesn't have such issues. It is the first football team in town, and football is more popular in the south than hockey.
^^^When you look at markets such as Kansas City, Cincinnati, Denver, Tampa, Cleveland, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh, an argument could be made that Charlotte can support MLB. There is an even stronger case for Raleigh/Durham getting a MLB team. No matter where the team ended up, I am willing to travel on a hot Summer day to see a game per week (would see 3 games per week if the team were located in uptown Charlotte). Baseball games are usually cheap, there are PLENTY to choose from, and the majority of the season does not compete with popular college sports in this state (nor does it compete with Fall/Winter pro-sports). Maybe its just me, but I do miss living only 2 1/2 hours from a MLB team (Cincinnati). With almost 10 million residents, NC is by far the largest state without a MLB team. Charlotte is the largest market without a team within 200 miles of the city.
I support all of the NC teams (except Duke- haha). We have access to a lot of great sports in NC. UNC-Duke is the only rivalry that really has a national audience, but their are a lot of other good sports to be watched.
Living near Charlotte, I attend more sporting events here but I watch the Triangle teams on TV when I can. I'm not big on watching hockey on TV, but the 3 Hurricanes games I have been to were very exciting live.
And they are the only pro franchise to have won a title yet. Hopefully one day my Panthers will.
And speaking of the Panthers, I know it is easy to knock them based on last year, but they have been a very successful franchise given the amount of time they have been in the league. 3 Championship Games and 1 Super Bowl in 16 years may not be cream of the crop, but is WAY beyond just average. And I know a lot of the transplants, especially Pittsburgh fans and those from the NE, look down on the Panthers but they have done pretty well given their short history. The Panthers are the 17th most valued sports franchise in the world (worth $1.8B), and they have sold out every game in spite of last year (of course part of that was due to PSL's).
I am as frustrated as anyone they have not been able to have back to back winning seasons, but they have been a long way from garbage. In my opinion, the 2003 SB run was 2nd only to NC State winning the NCAA in 1983 as far as how magical the season was.
Speaking of, I really hope the Pack can return to relevance in basketball. And Wake Forest as well.
The Bobcats are somewhat of a mess- I am pinning my hopes like a lot of people that maybe Jordan can persuade CP3 and Dwight Howard to come to Charlotte in 2012. They will certainly have the payroll after last year. The NBA is going to be a mess for a while anyway while they sort out the labor mess.
Part of me would like to see NC get a MLB team, but with the Charlotte Knights moving uptown and the Durham Bulls established, I really doubt it. In truth, MLB probably needs contraction anyway given a lot of the attendance numbers.
The "problem" with NC sports is always going to be that while NC has become a mega-state, the population is spread out along 3 main metro areas (2 that have the potential to continue the expansive growth needed for sports expansion in Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham).
If all were combined together, we would have the population (6M+) to justify every major sport. But then we'd be Atlanta... Any really, what ATL team really means anything on the national scale... none I can think of...
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When Raleigh gets additional professional teams other then hockey perhaps I may be persuaded to root for them, but until then....
