Football town, baseball town, etc.

[Rumpleforeskin]

So I got into a discussion yesterday with someone about whether or not a city is always a baseball town, football town, etc.

I brought up Philadelphia and how it has slowly morphed into a baseball town ever since the Phillies began to play well and they had more likable guys on their squad than that of the Eagles. He said Philadelphia would vary on what team has the most-recent success and saying that if the Eagles won the Super Bowl, it would be a football town and baseball would go by the wayside.

What are your thoughts? Can a town with a few major sports teams switch in between the type of "town" they are or will it be steadfast into what it is?

 

[forever_town]

Going by what I know from Washington, D.C., we will always be a Redskins town. Even with success by the Capitals of late, we're not a hockey town. It would take years of sustained success to become a baseball town.

However, Washington has lived or died by the fortunes of the Redskins for so long that there's no changing that.

 

[YankeeFan]

New York & St. Louis are baseball towns.

I think you could call Boston a baseball town, though all of the sports have big followings.

Having lived in Houston & Tampa/St. Pete, I don't think you could call any city in either Texas or Florida baseball towns. They are all football towns.

 

[DanOregon]

The fact that the crowd chanted "Yankees Suck" after the Patriots won their first Super Bowl makes me think Boston is indeed a baseball town.

The SF Bay Area is a Giants town: The niners were big, but the Giants are partly owned by the biggest sports talk station in the region and whether the team is good or bad, they always dominate coverage.

Dallas: football town
Denver: football town
Phoenix: basketball town
Chicago: football town (Yes the Cubs are beloved, but mostly by people who don't live in Chicago anymore).
Atlanta: College football town
L.A.: basketball town

 

[slappy4428]

Detroit's a hockeytown, but if the Lions ever got their act together for anything more than two straight weekends, it would convert.

 

[Huggy]

Toronto is definitely a hockey town these days, or probably more accurately a Maple Leafs town. Plenty of great hockey in the Toronto area goes unnoticed in favour of the Leafs.

But as a kid in the early 1970s I remember when the Toronto Argonauts were as big or bigger than the Leafs and of course the Blue Jays ran the show here for several years beginning in the late 80s through their World Series wins.

But I doubt the Leafs will give up their throne any time soon unless the Jays become serious World Series contenders or an NFL team moves into town. I don't see either of those things happening anytime soon.

 

[DanOregon]

Going by what I know from Washington, D.C., we will always be a Redskins town. Even with success by the Capitals of late, we're not a hockey town. It would take years of sustained success to become a baseball town.

However, Washington has lived or died by the fortunes of the Redskins for so long that there's no changing that.

Do yourself a favor - Check out the Sports Illustrated "Wish I Was There" issue from 1999 - there was a story recreating what it must have been like when the Redskins played at home on Dec. 7, 1941 as the PA announcer paged general after general and senator after senator over the loudspeaker throughout the game.
Big shock - it was written by Scott Price.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1017830/index.htm

 

[imjustagirl]

Win or (way more often) lose, Cleveland's a football town.

 

[Brian]

Win or (way more often) lose, Cleveland's a football town.

Except when you move the team to Baltimore. Although I'd say much of that loyalty attached to Ohio State, which ironically became a national power again just as the Browns left. And you always have the high school football mania.

 

[imjustagirl]

Win or (way more often) lose, Cleveland's a football town.

Except when you move the team to Baltimore. Although I'd say much of that loyalty attached to Ohio State, which ironically became a national power again just as the Browns left. And you always have the high school football mania.

Are you drunk?

 

[Journo13]

Boston is a baseball town. Coverage for the other sports, although strong, doesn't match the following for the Red Sox.

 

[93Devil]

Pittsburgh

Pro Football
Hockey
NCAA College Football
High School Football
NAIA Football
DII Football
Pro Basketball
Baseball

Just kidding on the baseball. I am "in country" this weekend and there is an undercurrent of baseball fans here that are itching to rise up again to overtake hockey, but they may have to wait a long time for a competitive team. Like decades.

 

[JR]

Toronto is definitely a hockey town these days, or probably more accurately a Maple Leafs town. Plenty of great hockey in the Toronto area goes unnoticed in favour of the Leafs.

But as a kid in the early 1970s I remember when the Toronto Argonauts were as big or bigger than the Leafs and of course the Blue Jays ran the show here for several years beginning in the late 80s through their World Series wins.

But I doubt the Leafs will give up their throne any time soon unless the Jays become serious World Series contenders or an NFL team moves into town. I don't see either of those things happening anytime soon.

Agree with you on hockey. TO is a Leafs town. The fact that junior hockey doesn't draw flies in the area is proof of that. To make it worse, you get some so-called hockey fans who don't understand the difference between major junior hockey and the AHL. Or people who stop watching the NHL after the regular season because the Leafs aren't in the playoffs

Best part of junior hockey is you get to see guys like Matt Duchene, Cody Hodgson, Wojtek Wolski start as 16 year olds and then see them drafted in the first round.

Before the Jays came to town, it was toss-up between the Leafs and the Argos. But, in typical Toronto fashion we downplay the CFL and think we'll only become a "world-class" city if we get an NFL team. And the friggin' Bills.

Biggest growing sport at the youth level in TO is box lacrosse.

 

[Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell]

Milwaukee: baseball
Twin Cities: hockey
Cincinnati: baseball or college basketball
Indianapolis: basketball
Cleveland: football, baseball during the late 90s

 

[outofplace]

Pittsburgh

Pro Football
Hockey
NCAA College Football
High School Football
NAIA Football
DII Football
Pro Basketball
Baseball

Just kidding on the baseball. I am "in country" this weekend and there is an undercurrent of baseball fans here that are itching to rise up again to overtake hockey, but they may have to wait a long time for a competitive team. Like decades.

Pittsburgh is a football town. Nothing else comes close there. Not just the Steelers. High school football is big there, too.

The hockey fans in general have always struck me as being of the fair weather variety. They come around when the team is good, fade when it is not. Hockey just doesn't have the history there that baseball does.

That said, the last time both the Penguins and Pirates were good, the Pirates' attendance still sucked.

 

[Bubbler]

Milwaukee: baseball

To a point. Rest of Wisconsin? Football ... big time.

 

[spnited]

New York & St. Louis are baseball towns.

Sorry, YankeeFan, NY is not a baseball town, it's a sports town.

Having lived and worked my entire life in the NY market, I can tell you it is, in order, a Giants town, a Yankees town, a Knicks town and a Rangers town. Jets and Mets are next,

Devils and Nets are considered New Jersey teams and therefore the lesser franchises in the area.

 

[steveu]

Maybe a couple years ago when the Giants were in the Super Bowl. Now? Ehhh...

There are some cities that are very popular with different sports. The Dallas-FW area is Cowboys territory, but the Rangers are making serious inroads. College football and high school football are huge, and college/HS sports in general are also big.

Pittsburgh's another sports-crazy city. Philadelphia too. Lots of colleges. I'd say with Philly having Villanova and Temple and other big universities, college hoops could rule there.

 

[YankeeFan]

New York & St. Louis are baseball towns.

Sorry, YankeeFan, NY is not a baseball town, it's a sports town.

Having lived and worked my entire life in the NY market, I can tell you it is, in order, a Giants town, a Yankees town, a Knicks town and a Rangers town. Jets and Mets are next,

Devils and Nets are considered New Jersey teams and therefore the lesser franchises in the area.

Hmm. While I basically agree that New York & Boston are "sports towns", I'd still put baseball over football in New York.

Even, If the Giants were to come ahead of the Yankees -- which I think is debatable - the Yankees plus the Mets are bigger than the Giants.

Youth & high school football are not very big in the area (NJ has good HS Football), and is nonexistent in the city, except for on Staten Island.

Baseball is big in the Hispanic/Latin community.

Considering how big basketball is in both the Jewish & African-American communities, I could even argue for it over football.

 

[YankeeFan]

Maybe a couple years ago when the Giants were in the Super Bowl. Now? Ehhh...

The 162 game schedule is a blessing & a curse.

When a baseball team catches a wave, any town can turn into a baseball town for a time.

In a lot of ways, even though the Yankees dominate the back pages, New York is still a National League City. There was no better place to be in '84, '85, & '86 than Flushing, Queens.

Cleveland, Baltimore & Toronto were all baseball crazy for a few years in recent memory, but have fallen back to their normal state.

But there's nothing better than a full baseball stadium night after night in a summer into fall pennant race. Throw in a couple of young exciting players or a true superstar, and any town can become a baseball town -- for a while at least.