What's your state's sporting event of the year?

[dixiehack]

Watching Tennessee at Vandy, which is a matchup of 8-8 basketball teams, but Memorial Gym is electric. The thought occurred that this game, when it is in Nashville, is the best sporting event in that state that reliably shows up on the calendar every year, especially with the decline of popularity of NASCAR at Bristol. It means everything to Dores fans, but enough Vols get in the building to boost up the energy both ways. (The games in Knoxville never have this kind of atmosphere.)

So what's the event of the year for your state? Some are more obvious than others (Iron Bowl, Indy 500, Masters Sunday) but some aren't. What say you?

 

[RickStain]

Dodgers-Giants, I guess?

 

[John]

Masters first, followed by Georgia vs Ga Tech football, followed by the rest of Georgia's home games (though maybe not next season when the home sked is wretched), followed by Georgia spring football game, followed maybe the Peachtree Road Race.

 

[mpcincal]

For California, I nominate the Rose Bowl.

 

[Vombatus]

Maryland has to be the Preakness.

And I'd say lacrosse season is a distant second.

Official state sport is jousting. Jousting? There were bills in the General Assembly to replace jousting with lacrosse, but it never happened. Some kind of odd jousting lobby kept blocking it.

So, somebody got the bright idea to name the "official state TEAM sport" and lacrosse finally passed while leaving jousting alone to play with their little holes.

 

[RonClements]

I am from Wisconsin but live in North Carolina and used to live in Missouri.
For those three, I will say:
Wisconsin - Packers opening day
North Carolina: Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on Memorial Day weekend
Missouri: Baseball opening day, especially Cardinals home opener

 

[Jake_Taylor]

When I lived in the Triangle, the race barely registered as a big deal locally. I'd say it's Duke-UNC at Cameron for North Carolina.

 

[Big Circus]

Maryland has to be the Preakness.

And I'd say lacrosse season is a distant second.

Official state sport is jousting. Jousting? There were bills in the General Assembly to replace jousting with lacrosse, but it never happened. Some kind of odd jousting lobby kept blocking it.

So, somebody got the bright idea to name the "official state TEAM sport" and lacrosse finally passed while leaving jousting alone to play with their little holes.

The jousting lobby ****s up everything.

It's slim pickings in Virginia. Maybe the night race at RIR?

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Massachusetts 1. Boston Marathon. 2. Red Sox opening day. 3. Beanpot hockey tournament. Look, obviously the four pro teams are the biggest things in town, and due to historic success, the Pats rule the roost here as they should. But I interpreted the question to mean annual events that are big deals no matter what.

 

[dixiehack]

Massachusetts 1. Boston Marathon. 2. Red Sox opening day. 3. Beanpot hockey tournament. Look, obviously the four pro teams are the biggest things in town, and due to historic success, the Pats rule the roost here as they should. But I interpreted the question to mean annual events that are big deals no matter what.

Right. A pro team can have the biggest event (Reds opening day would be my guess for Ohio) but not always.

 

[Vombatus]

The jousting lobby ****s up everything.

It's slim pickings in Virginia. Maybe the night race at RIR?

People don't realize how big Virginia is. Part of the state is west of Detroit.

So, there's a lot of statewide indifference.

In Northern VA, I know the Marine Corps Marathon is a big deal.

And, in college football, the Commonwealth Cup between VaTech and UVa used to be a big deal, and more so now that VT is in the ACC, but it's tarnished by how much the Hoos suck lately. I miss George Welsh.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Anyone who's ever driven I-81 knows Virginia's bigger than they thought. That's one of the issues with this question. A good number of states are so big, they have different big events for different regions of the state. Philly and Pittsburgh don't share a common main event, just to cite one example. What one thing unites Texas sports? High school football maybe?

 

[User 11148]

North Carolina: Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on Memorial Day weekend

No way ... it's UNC-Duke (X2) in basketball. That (as a single thing) is the event of the year in NC sports.

 

[User 11148]

What one thing unites Texas sports?

Other than bitching about Jerry Jones, there's no one thing.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Then there are the small states. I grew up in Delaware. I'd have to say University of Delaware football was the biggest thing exclusive to the state. That's about it. Rhode Island? Maybe when the America's Cup comes to Newport, which it hasn't for many years.
What's Maine's biggest sports event? I honestly have no idea.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Then there are the small states. I grew up in Delaware. I'd have to say University of Delaware football was the biggest thing exclusive to the state. That's about it.

What about the NASCAR race in Dover?

 

[Michael_ Gee]

What about the NASCAR race in Dover?

It's big, but not for much of the Wilmington metro that has most of the state's population. Much like the beaches in the south of the state, the Dover races are as much for the Baltimore and DC metro areas as they are for Delawareans.
Now there's no question that the NASCAR races at Loudon are New Hampshire's biggest events.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Other than bitching about Jerry Jones, there's no one thing.

Red River Shootout/Rivalry/Whatever They're Calling It This Year probably gets the most attention statewide. That, the two NASCAR races, and the state high school football finals now that they're centralized.

Cowboys game days used to be big, and maybe those are back now that they're finally good again.

 

[Vombatus]

For DC, World Series and Stanley Cup games.

 

[MisterCreosote]

It's slim pickings in Virginia. Maybe the night race at RIR?

I'd guess something having to do with Virginia Tech football.