1. San Antonio Spurs (ABA/NBA)—All-time favorite because of the small-town, hard-nosed work ethic. The way to do things!
2. Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans (NFL)—Who can forget Earl Campbell and Billy “White Shoes” Johnson? Or Warren Moon? Or Steve “Air” McNair? Or Eddie George? Or Chris Johnson? Obviously I can’t.
3. University of Tennessee Volunteers Football (NCAA)—Especially now that Lane Kiffin is gone.
4. San Antonio Gunslingers (USFL)—Rick Neuheisel was the starting QB.
5. Memphis Southmen (WFL)—Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, Paul Warfield, Danny White: not bad for an upstart league.
6. Memphis Pros/Tams/Sound (ABA)—Would have become the Baltimore Claw if the ABA hadn’t merged with the NBA.
7. Trinity University (Texas) Tigers Football (NCAA Div. III)—Pulled off one of the great plays in football history—16 laterals to score on the last play of the game against Milsaps College in Mississippi.
8. University of Memphis Men’s Basketball (NCAA)—Were tied with Bill Walton and UCLA at halftime of the 1973 NCAA finals.
9. Memphis Grizzlies (NBA)
10. Chicago Bulls (NBA)—During the Jordan years mainly.
11. Memphis Showboats (USFL)—Coached by Pepper Rogers.
12. Houston Gamblers (USFL)—Jim Kelly was QB.
13. Buffalo Bills (NFL)—Kent Hull, starting center through the four Super Bowl losses is a really nice guy. Jim Kelly was QB here as well.
14. St. Louis Cardinals (MLB)
15. New Orleans Saints (NFL)—Archie Manning! And later Bum Philips coached Kenny “The Snake” Stabler and Earl Campbell there.
16. Pittsburg Stealers (NFL)—They weren’t always a favorite of mine, but then I married a fan and she convinced me to appreciate a great team when I saw one.
17. Indianapolis Colts (NFL)—They weren’t always a favorite, either, but I can’t root against Peyton Manning, I just can’t.
18. Arkansas Twisters/Diamonds (AF2/IFL)—Arena Football 2: fun sport to watch, sort of like human pinball.
19. McAllen (Texas) High School Bulldogs (High School Football)—My high school.
20. Little Rock (Arkansas) Central High School Tigers (High School Football)—My kids’ high school.
21. San Antonio Racquets (Domino’s Pizza Team Tennis)—No, honest. Look them up.
22. Charlotte Heat (Domino’s Pizza Team Tennis)—One of only two championships I’ve ever seen in any sport: San Antonio at Charlotte, summer of 1987. Charlotte won.
23. Tulsa University Football (NCAA)—Good team for a small school, though it is the largest Presbyterian-related university in the country.
24. Oakland A’s (MLB)—In the mid-70s this was a great team.
25. Houston Astros (MLB)—Rooted for them in the 90s.
26. McAllen Dusters (Independent Baseball)—played one, maybe two seasons. The big question was always which would be higher, the number of runs scored or the number of errors committed. Lots of fun to watch, though.
27. Green Bay Packers (NFL)—Got to love a team owned by a city.
28. Davidson (North Carolina) Wildcats Men’s Basketball (NCAA)—Their historic run in the NCAA’s was thrilling to watch. A Presbyterian-related school where my Dad went.
29. Philadelphia Stars (USFL)—Jim Mora coached them.
30. (Tie) Indiana Pacers, New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets (ABA/NBA)—Along with San Antonio, the only remaining former ABA teams, now merged with the NBA.
33. Arkansas Travelers (Minor League Baseball/Texas League)—An historic team with connections back to 1901.
34. Arkansas RimRockers (ABA)—Team began in 2004-05 with the revamped American Basketball League. They played for one year, won a league championship, and then left for the NBA’s Developmental League. One of only two league championships of any kind I’ve ever attended.
35. Tulsa Talons (AF2)—Arch rivals for a number of years of the Arkansas Twisters. I developed a grudging respect for the team.
36. Memphis Mad Dogs (CFL)—Part of the Canadian Football League’s effort to “invade” the US. Pepper Rogers coached the team in it’s only year of 1995. Gary Anderson played his last year of professional football for the team.
37. Hamilton Tiger-cats (CFL)—Our family attended a Hamilton game a couple of years ago (versus Toronto). Great atmosphere and wonderful folks seated in the “family section.” I became a fan for life.
38. Seattle Seahawks (NFL)—Their first few years as an expansion team were fun to watch. Jim Zorn at QB and Steve Largent at WR were among the highlights.
39. Glasgow Rangers (Scottish Football League)—That’s soccer to you and me.
40. Duzcespor (Turkish Football)—I spent a summer in Duzce as an exchange student and attended a match.
41. Arkansas Riverblades (ECHL)—One of two hockey teams to play in Little Rock at one time. This one played in much nicer Alltel Arena in North Little Rock.
42. Arkansas GlacierCats (WPHL)—The other hockey team to play in Little Rock at one time, playing their games at Barton Coliseum in Little Rock.
43. San Antonio Wings (WFL)—Saw them play once, against the Memphis Southmen in San Antonio. San Antonio won the game and the league went belly up the next week.
44. University of Arkansas Razorbacks Football (NCAA)—Proud tradition of great teams over the years.
45. Arkansas State University Red Wolves Football (NCAA)—Trying very hard to make Arkansas a two-team state.
46. New Jersey Devils (NHL)—For some reason I found myself rooting for this team for a year or two.
47. Philadelphia Bell (WFL)—What a wacky name for a pro football team! Got to love it.
48. Memphis Rogues (NASL)—Saw them play once against the Rochester Lancers. Thought they had a cool team name.
49. Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)—Now that Lebron James has bailed on them I’ll be rooting for them to win a title––someday.
50. New York Knights (AFL)—I saw the very first Arena Football game ever played in Madison Square Garden. This was one of the teams.
