Any recommendations?

In spite of it all, I've decided I can never stop supporting the Dees, but I can't stomach footy anymore. I'm over it and I'm gonna look for another sport to distract me between thumpings each week. Anyone have any other teams they support passionately other than the red and blue?

(Edited for spelling)

For me, the NBA is a nice distraction. Started getting into it a few years ago, primarily as something to follow in the offseason but this year I've watched most of the games in the playoffs which bite into the footy season. Although I side with the Celtics, I don't really support them passionately (as I don't with any team other than the Dees), but nevertheless I feel passionately following another sport is a good enough distraction when our game gets mundane.

I started following the LA Lakers in 1989 (just missed Showtime) after a kid in grade 5 brought a Lakers basketball to school. I'm often thankful that it wasn't another team's ball. While choosing Melbourne has been a life of pain, following LA has been very rewarding. Five championships since 2000, a storied history, and a great team to support. LA is the obvious entry point for US visitors from Australia and I've managed to see the team play in person several times over a few visits and will look to get to a couple of games at the start of next season. I recommend choosing sporting teams in cities you're likely to visit at some point. I also chose the San Jose Sharks in their inaugural season in 91-92, and have seen them live a few times. My main error was choosing the Kansas City Chiefs in around 93-94. I'll likely never go there unless I do a road trip in retirement, and it is a pretty useless franchise.

Had I been choosing my teams as an adult I'd probably have chosen teams from the one city. Mind you, that'd have meant I'd have chosen the LA Kings and that would be just unacceptable.

But yes, I've been super keen on US sports for a number of years, and the advent of the Internet certainly helped. The sense of engagement with the teams and leagues is much greater.

Any recommendations?

In spite of it all, I've decided I can never stop supporting the Dees, but I can't stomach footy anymore. I'm over it and I'm gonna look for another sport to distract me between thumpings each week. Anyone have any other teams they support passionately other than the red and blue?

(Edited for spelling)

If you're talking American sports you could go down the track of picking out a City which has multiple sporting teams (as pantaloons suggested) or you could go for teams with red and blue as their predominant colours. Or just pick teams randomly like many do.

I've got 4 mates who have gone done the whole City track (New York, Detroit, Pittsburgh & Boston) but there's a stack of other cities that have at least 3 teams who are involved in the big 4 sports.

I'm Green Bay Packers in the NFL, Boston Red Sox in the MLB but I also have a soft spot for the St Louis Cardinals ... and the Vancouver Canucks in the NHL. I don't really have an NBA team but I love watching the sport (especially during the playoffs) The NBA is all about the stars in my eyes.

Over on this part of 'land there are threads on all the sports but the cricket and NFL threads get the most traffic. The other sports tend to get a little bit of traffic when those sports are in finals/playoff mode. The soccer thread can sometimes get busy.

That's if you want to chat about those sports of course - I reckon a lot here have teams but they either don't know about the sporting threads or they're not used to chatting about other sports on the net - or chatting about it here. There's a few of us that keep things ticking over and even the cycling thread can get interesting.

Cool, thanks lads, good posts. So if it's not footy then straight to American sports or the round ball? No closet NRL fans?

I'm thinking these teams:

Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)

Don't know anything about the sport or the city, but I used to like their guernseys when I was playing the old NHL games.

Swindon Town F.C. (soccer)

Met a hot British chick with an excellent accent at an airport once who said she lived near Stonehenge. This is their team apparently. Works for me.

Might go for Tottenham if they're rubbish. Don't know anything about either.

Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA)

Dunno about this team, I used to go for Chicago as a kid, but I have no plans to visit there and at least I have mates in Minnesota.

Might have a think about NFL later. Was there for superbowl this year which was wild, but I only remember the first and last 30 seconds of the game. Katy Perry on a golden tiger was the highlight.

What do yas reckon? Are they perennial battlers like the Dees or am I onto a winner? I do like an underdog, but the Dees are taking it to the extreme these days.

Cool, thanks lads, good posts. So if it's not footy then straight to American sports or the round ball? No closet NRL fans?

I'm thinking these teams:

Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)

Don't know anything about the sport or the city, but I used to like their guernseys when I was playing the old NHL games.

Swindon Town F.C. (soccer)

Met a hot British chick with an excellent accent at an airport once who said she lived near Stonehenge. This is their team apparently. Works for me.

Might go for Tottenham if they're rubbish. Don't know anything about either.

Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA)

Dunno about this team, I used to go for Chicago as a kid, but I have no plans to visit there and at least I have mates in Minnesota.

Might have a think about NFL later. Was there for superbowl this year which was wild, but I only remember the first and last 30 seconds of the game. Katy Perry on a golden tiger was the highlight.

What do yas reckon? Are they perennial battlers like the Dees or am I onto a winner? I do like an underdog, but the Dees are taking it to the extreme these days.

Classic work. I'm afraid the Minnesota Timberwolves are sheer toilet though. There is a far greater chance of you seeing Melbourne win a premiership than Minnesota winning an NBA championship. The cold (get it?) reality is that people who earn millions of dollars don't want to live in Minneapolis. Heck, even Boston, with its storied history and being in a great city, can't attract big free agents. Don't do it unless you truly hate yourself. It's one thing to choose lame teams as a kid and get stuck with them for life, but you've already got an AFL team to ruin your life - don't add to it.

Pittsburgh Penguins is a decent choice though. I accept that proposal.

Classic work. I'm afraid the Minnesota Timberwolves are sheer toilet though. There is a far greater chance of you seeing Melbourne win a premiership than Minnesota winning an NBA championship. The cold (get it?) reality is that people who earn millions of dollars don't want to live in Minneapolis. Heck, even Boston, with its storied history and being in a great city, can't attract big free agents. Don't do it unless you truly hate yourself. It's one thing to choose lame teams as a kid and get stuck with them for life, but you've already got an AFL team to ruin your life - don't add to it.

I think you're being a bit harsh on the Timberwolves, they did just win the lottery, and they already have Wiggins, last years No. 1 pick and recently crowned rookie of the year. Kevin Garnett coming back home can't hurt their chances of attracting free agents.

But, like the AFL, there are the have's and the have not's in the NBA, and Minnesota is certainly in the latter group.

I love the NBA, but it's becoming more and more difficult to pick a team with so many Aussies invading the league (Exum & Ingles at the Jazz, Dellavedova at the Cavs, Mills & Baynes at the Spurs, Bogut at the Warriors and Bairstow at the Bulls) and plenty more likely in the coming years. And with so many regular trades, you never know how long they will stay with the team.

Alright, might have to put more thought into the NBA. Following my favourite players might not be the best idea, that's how I ended up with the Dees as a Taswegian.

In the mean time, carn the penguins!