If I’m being honest it’s the teams from the mid 80’s through 90’s and about 5 years after Shaq, because my grandpa used to take me to the games. After he passed away it wasn’t the same. I followed and rooted for them throughout my life but I was never a die hard basketball fan after him passing. Baseball was the same, he took me to Bertman’s Camp and I stayed for the week, and it was bad ass, staying in the dorms and riding the busses with the players who were coaches. It was a blast. But I still follow and root for them just not as passionately as football.
That's because they were mostly local products along with the Collis temple connection. Our local boys can be role players as Wade recruits globally.
And as we get older our perspectives and our passions change. Hopefully never apathy save for a shitty season or two.
Looking back, after the final four run I was off and on for Brady until he petered out. I was on board for Trent Johnson’s first year when he made a run to the second round of the NCAAs (Tasmin Mitchell, Bo Spencer, Garrett Temple, Marcus Thornton) but bottomed out quickly after, which lost my interest because it was a rerun of Brady (worse, really). I missed the Johnny O’Bryant years, and got back on board from then to now, with players like Anthony Hickey, Keith Hornsby, Jarell Martin, Brian Bridgewater, Jordan Mickey, Tim Quarterman, Darcy Malone, Josh Gray, Jalyn Patterson, Antonio Blakeney, Ben Simmons, and Craig Victor. Now we have Epps, Sampson, Reath, Waters, Sims, Mays, Rachal, Edwards, Onwausor, Kiir, and a stronger roster predicted next year. We’ve had some good times with middling success. Very hopeful WW can bring us to the next level. Looking back, we’ve had some talent pass through (except during the Trent Johnson years, he didn’t do much). What Brady did under sanctions was pretty remarkable, and at least JJ could recruit. Dale Brown’s consistency was also pretty impressive.
