More to say...

In the haste of getting my first post done, I didn't really give a history of my life as a sports fan. It all started when I was 9. I can remember attending a couple Indians game before this point in my life, but nothing life changing. Basketball was my first love. It was April of 1993 and the North Carolina Tar Heels were playing the Michigan Wolverines in the National Championship game. I can remember the previous year seeing Christian Laettner hit the shot in the Final Four to beat Kentucky and his mom with her broken neck in the crowd. Anyways, I didn't like Duke, and I HATED Michigan so North Carolina was going to be the team I rooted for. Also helping this was the fact that I really liked Michael Jordan at the time and had family living in Chicago, so my obsession for the Tar Heels began. So, there I was, 9 years old, laying on the living room floor watching every second of this basketball game. I can't explain the feeling I got when Chris Webber got called for a Technical Foul and the Tar Heels closed out U of M and won the Title. It's the same feeling I've gotten the other 2 times I witnessed them winning the championship.

As for my Cleveland sports obsessions, I think it's pretty obvious why I love those teams. When you're from a town with professional sports, you are fans of those teams. You do NOT Front Run. People try to tell me that I'm a front runner for rooting for the Heels but when you start rooting for a team when you're 9 and are still rooting for them 15 to 16 year later, even through the Matt Daugherty era, you are NOT a front runner.

Other teams I like include the Cubs and Orioles for baseball. The Cubs is easy to explain. Visit Wrigley and you'll understand. The atmosphere in that place is amazing. I've gone several times and always look forward to the next time I'll be able to go. As for the Orioles, that is a sentimental favorite of mine and only just recently. The day I proposed to my fiancee, we were in Washington D.C. and went to an Orioles game in Baltimore that night. Amanda, my fiancee, bought me an Orioles hat at the game which I love. Also, one of their starting outfielders, Nolan Reimold, is a Bowling Green Alumni, which is where I went to school.

As for Hockey, my favorite team is the Minnesota Wild. "Matt, that's really random." I know, but I can remember as a little kid seeing the Minnesota North Stars every once in awhile on ABC's Wide World of Sports or something of the sort and when Minnesota got a new team, I latched on. Other teams I like include the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers - All Canadian teams. I've only been to one NHL game in my life, in Columbus, Blue Jackets and Wild. My Minnesota team lost but it was still fun, even if Nationwide Arena was crappy.

So there is a little history of my love of sports. A little bit of why I do the things I do, and root for the teams I root for. I love sports and I always will. Keep reading, and you'll learn more about me every single time!