Would I rather see one of my main sports teams win their sport's championship, or would I rather see Team USA win the World Cup?
In order from least preferred (but still very preferred!) to most, with a bit of commentary:
- Devils. Along with the Broncos, the Devils have been the overall most successful one of my sports teams in my life, especially in the past 10 or 12 years. Success spoils me a bit, especially in the sport about which I care the least.
- Team USA. It would be a shocker of shockers, as unlikely a World Cup outcome as I can fathom. (OK, I can fathom more unlikely outcomes. But it would be a jaw-dropping stunner.) But... I'm just not particularly emotionally invested in them. And despite giving the sport a fresh chance as I try to do every four years, soccer is still boring as sin. Sorry, everyone-else-in-the-world-and-most-American-intellectuals, you're just wrong about this one.
- Nets. They've come close, and with Jason Kidd getting older by the minute it's unclear if they'll have any other sort of real chance at a championship any time soon. I'd love to see them bring a new trophy to New Jersey after all the years of futility and now all the close calls, but I think the NBA Playoffs are so incredibly boring (compared to all the other sports), that I just can't get too excited about them.
- Broncos. The current Broncos team has so many great stories that it would be fantastic to see them win. Plummer's turnaround from his Arizona days, Rod Smith's last hurrah, Champ's revitalization of a a defense led by Al Wilson and John Lynch, etc. etc. And the team looked poised to take that step last year, before falling flat against Pittsburgh. Even having been treated to back-to-back Superowl wins 8 years ago, I'd cherish another championship run for Denver.
- Mets. OK, so this doesn't come as a surprise to anyone reading this blog (let me know if it does), but I ache every year for the Mets to win the World Series. I feel like even the 2000 team snuck up on me and most other fans by surprise, and wasn't a World Series caliber team at all. This year, the team is exciting, unpredictable, and balanced in just about every way. They're fun to watch, and a large nucleus of the team will be together for years to come. They have the talent to win the World Series, but the regular season can be as cruel as it is long, and the playoffs are where hearts are broken, mended, and torn apart once more. But to emerge from the chaotic tension as champions of baseball is oh so sweet—how could any sports fan want anything more?
