sports towns

[marc26]

One of my favorite things about this board is there is so many passionate sports fans

In your opinion, what is the biggest sports towns in your country and why?

I feel extremely lucky to grow up in Boston, which I believe is the best sports town in the states. Again, some other people will have different opinions

Examples-in looking for apartments, people looking to rent look at me weird if I turn down an apartment if I can't get a satellite dish so I can order sports packages to be able to see all the Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots games. That is normal for boston fans to factor in on getting a place

Today, the NFL schedule came out for next season and even though its 5 months away, I spent all day sending and receiving I'm all day disecting it

[Pinot]

Another Masshole? I watched a documentary last night about the 2003 Red Sox season. It's been 25 years since I left and I still love the Sox but the A's, 49ers and Warriors are my teams these days. Bobby Orr, Bird, Havlichek, Yaz, and of course Ted Williams. Boston loves their sports. No doubt about it.

[cybernator_uk]

Tricky question for England.....

My personal opinion here is, if we are taking football as an example, Then London you would think would be number one with the amount of football teams they have... But that is way of the mark... For me i would have to put Newcatsle as the number one most passionate fans i have ever come accross.

Just my 2 cents here tho.

[Mav]

Melbourne is always promoting itself as the sports capital of this region:

Aust Open Tennis (Grand Slam Event)
Boxing Day Test Match Cricket
Rugby League & Union Test matches
AFL Grand Final
Formula One Grand Prix
A League Soccer
Australian Masters Golf
Melbourne Cup Horse Racing

[Nanook]

In Holland, we do not really have a sports town, since our country is so small and many of the larger events are spreaded allover the country.

But if I would really have to name one town, I would probably mentioned Heerenveen in the northern province of Friesland. Friesland is a kind of unique province in Holland with their own language and customs.

Heerenveen has a textbook example of a fine football team with very loyal and well behaving supporters.

Moreover, it has the Thialf speed skating stadium with probably one of the finest atmospheres during a sports event, you may experience in the world. Maybe some of you saw it on tv while watching the world championships speed skating last winter.

In my view, it is as unique as being a spectator at wimbledon, fa cup final, monaco gp or masters golf. Each of them are unique in their own way.

[irishfrank]

[quote=cybernator_uk;314561]For me i would have to put Newcatsle as the number one most passionate fans i have ever come accross.

As you say difficult to say in uk lots of teams in London 'local feeling' can be somewhat diluted as locals have been forced out by property developers and ticket prices.Cities with two teams can be very passionate liverpool,manchester,glasgow and so on, but NEWCASTLE jeeze they are FANATICS!! I lived up there some years back heres 2 examples I came across

The then girlfriends brother inlaw would not allow the colours red and white in the house(sunderland colours) whites had to be creams/ off whites. reds had to be burgandy/pinky reds!! it caused murder at christmas, he was a really nice guy,just hated sunderland with as much passion as he loved Newcastle.
A real nutjob!!!!

A story ran on tv while I lived there, 2 guys worked side by side in the major brewery in Newcastle for about 25 years,one Newcastle fan the other sunderland fan, apart from a grumpy hello on the day the foreman introduced them, they had never exchanged a word!! 25 years!!!

[sishow]

IN England with football it is easy to see that places like LOndon has many different professinal clubs with the massive population in the past and now. The same can be said of other citys like Birmingham, Liverpool, Greater Manchester area and the large conobations around Leeds, Bradford and Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesborough.

But it has always amazaed me that places the size of Stoke and Bristol can support 2 large (Maybe not in recent winning, but in die-hard support and away travelling fans!) pro football teams. Ok neither city has a top flight team at the moment, but for passion I would find it more difficult to look past these citys in terms of our national sport.

As for the other place with 2 pro teams, Nottingham, when I lived there the true locals used to say "People from Nottingham support County while outsiders follow Forrest." How true that is, I dont know. But when I used to go to forrest on my student tickets, the ground used to be more than half empty, and there were in the championship then.

As for sport as a whole, I have no idea. A lot of sport in the UK is regionalised. Schools in some areas play one sport when in the next county they play a completey diff sport. So while one city produces alot of rugby Union players for instance, the next city may produce large amounts of cricketers!

(N.B. To all non-UK bm's. There was a great question that used to be asked here........... "Name all the places outside London that have more than one pro Football (soccer) team?". The big citys used to be got quite easy, but the smaller ones was a stiggle for some.)

[irishfrank]

[quote=sishow;314678]As for sport as a whole, I have no idea. A lot of sport in the UK is regionalised. Schools in some areas play one sport when in the next county they play a completey diff sport. So while one city produces alot of rugby Union players for instance, the next city may produce large amounts of cricketers!

Your right,moved around a fair amount as a kid, one summer cricket,the next rugby union, one school I attended banned football!!! (rugby mad welsh headmaster)
I also think that in terms of popularity of sports in terms of mass support,class distincions have played a big roll. things have changed in recent
years but historically rugby union and cricket have been mostly associated with the middle classes( historic university origins), football and rugby league
the sports of the working classes.I would like to know if class has played any part in the history of the mass support of sports in other contries,AUS/USA

[TanMan]

This is my take on "fans" support for the most popular teams in their respective US sports:

Baseball: The New York Yankees
Football: The Green Bay Packers, but if you want to fight someone for no reason at all... "The Philadelphia Eagles"
Basketball: The Boston Celtics (at least in recent memory)... or even the LA Lakers (but, LA is so transient)

I hear you though Marc26, Boston, or the New England area has typically only had "one" team... so the general feel is not fractured in any way, like in NY, Chicago, LA, etc....

[Nanook]

Originally Posted by marc26

One of my favorite things about this board is there is so many passionate sports fans

In your opinion, what is the biggest sports towns in your country and why?

I feel extremely lucky to grow up in Boston, which I believe is the best sports town in the states. Again, some other people will have different opinions

Examples-in looking for apartments, people looking to rent look at me weird if I turn down an apartment if I can't get a satellite dish so I can order sports packages to be able to see all the Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots games. That is normal for boston fans to factor in on getting a place

Today, the NFL schedule came out for next season and even though its 5 months away, I spent all day sending and receiving I'm all day disecting it

Paul,
I thouht the most famous team in Boston are the Boston Bruins...
I used to see them often playing the Montreal Canadiens at the forum, during my expat period there. That were cracking games.
Unfortunately, I had to leave one week before Montreal started to play LA in the Stanley Cup finals. If I am not mistaken, they even won it back then in 1993.

[sishow]

Originally Posted by irishfrank

Your right,moved around a fair amount as a kid, one summer cricket,the next rugby union, one school I attended banned football!!! (rugby mad welsh headmaster)
I also think that in terms of popularity of sports in terms of mass support,class distincions have played a big roll. things have changed in recent
years but historically rugby union and cricket have been mostly associated with the middle classes( historic university origins), football and rugby league
the sports of the working classes.I would like to know if class has played any part in the history of the mass support of sports in other contries,AUS/USA

Thats what I think I was hinting at without trying to say it (I think I may go on too much about it on here inspite of it having nothing to do with los. So I try not to mention it!).

As for things changing...... When I started at university in Nottingham back in the day, i was stuck in a block with mostly students from working class backgrounds from around manchester and Brum. So when me and a fellow rugby union playing friend was talking about an up-coming cup game against Loughborough Uni (A pretty much sport orintated Uni) they all laughed about how serious we were taking it. Until we told them that top University level rugby, was until the clubs academys came, pretty much the second teir of rugby in England.

Thats why until recently all Top level rugby union players in the UK had degrees and could afford to play, as after there rugby career they had a professinal qualification to fall back on. How on earth could Brain Moore, the former England ******, be a qualified lawyer??? Was a middle class game when university was its only real 'inn'.

[sishow]

With my thinking to make the last post:

As for England/Great Britian........... Has to be Loughborough (spelling poo??!). Probabbly more top level atheletes from more sports trainning there, then anywhere else in the country. Especially considering the tiny population of the town.

[irishfrank]

Originally Posted by sishow

With my thinking to make the last post:

As for England/Great Britian........... Has to be Loughborough (spelling poo??!). Probabbly more top level atheletes from more sports trainning there, then anywhere else in the country. Especially considering the tiny population of the town.

I'm not sure but I think Loughboroughs emergence as a centre for sport came about because it was selected for massive funding in the 1950s-60s thats why its iternational reputation seems odd when you look at the size of the town.I find the issue of class quite interesting in sport,rugby,cricket already mentioned,also the olympics. never studied it but I think that before WW1, between the wars and just after WW2 the GB squads were almost exclusively made up of uni/grads and armed forces personel.Of course things havn't changed that much, some sports will almost always be dominated by those whose parents have the cash to pay for training from an early age.
I suppose thats why GB could never produce a JESSE OWENS!!

[sishow]

Originally Posted by irishfrank

I'm not sure but I think Loughboroughs emergence as a centre for sport came about because it was selected for massive funding in the 1950s-60s thats why its iternational reputation seems odd when you look at the size of the town.I find the issue of class quite interesting in sport,rugby,cricket already mentioned,also the olympics. never studied it but I think that before WW1, between the wars and just after WW2 the GB squads were almost exclusively made up of uni/grads and armed forces personel.Of course things havn't changed that much, some sports will almost always be dominated by those whose parents have the cash to pay for training from an early age.
I suppose thats why GB could never produce a JESSE OWENS!!

It was this elitism and to a degree class/racism that MADE america produce Tiger Woods/Williams sisters. But do the odd example of a working class kid come good in one sport make it a change, or is it just a one off?

I, for one, can't see the success off Tim Henman, or the Murrys at tennis make a change to its make-up of players in this country. As it is still, like golf, a members only sport at mid to high amaetur level. If it wasn't for the HEnmans being a rich middle class family, would Tim of got all the extra coaching or any where as near as much court time as he must of done. I don't think so! But im sure I'll get my answer in 10 years time!

When reading a very good article in last months Observer Sports monthly (Highly reccomended to any BM intrested in sport as a whole!), there was a big story on a school in Russia that has produced most of their recent stars. It appears only because they push tennis for most of the day time, and other traditional lessons are taught on top. When these kids appear in there first junior tournments, they get snapped up the American schools. Where of course the facilities are better for their development. JUst goes to show that its the first 10 years that matter in tennis.

[irishfrank]

[quote=sishow;314794]It was this elitism and to a degree class/racism that MADE america produce Tiger Woods/Williams sisters. But do the odd example of a working class kid come good in one sport make it a change, or is it just a one off?

I'll have to check but I think the Williams and Woods families were quite well off law/business backgrounds. Been thinking and I suppose that the only sport with any real olympic history that could be said to have been fully open to the working classes would be boxing,maybe other martail arts aswell.

DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE BOAT RACE

[marc26]

Originally Posted by Nanook

Paul,
I thouht the most famous team in Boston are the Boston Bruins...
I used to see them often playing the Montreal Canadiens at the forum, during my expat period there. That were cracking games.
Unfortunately, I had to leave one week before Montreal started to play LA in the Stanley Cup finals. If I am not mistaken, they even won it back then in 1993.

Bruins-Canadians was a huge rivarly in the 70's and 80's
Very intense
The bruins owner in the last decade won't spend money so interest is way down
Boston is Red Sox 1st-even when they are not in season
We are passionate about all our sport teams but the Red Sox are like family if you grow up in Boston
The year they lost in game7 to the NY Yankees, biggest rivarly in US Sports, people were actually calling the next day with concern to see if I was ok!!!!