The correct answer is “the team they first win as in a video game about the sport”.
A runner up is “Coolest animal” chosen for mascot. (And no, if a team does not have an animal for a mascot, it is not a viable option. Sorry, thems the rules)
A lot of people just choose the closest team to where they live. But I consider that boring and unoriginal. This is different if it’s your actual city though. Then it’s just city pride. You have to go with it.
As a New Yorker I chose the Miami Dolphins because it’s my dad’s team and I grew up around aqua and orange. Also most Buffalo people come off as obnoxious dicks that like to break tables like frat boys and I don’t want to be around them.
Other options could be as simple as I like their jerseys. They look cool. Because you will most likely wear the jersey eventually.
A fascinating discussion when you live in the arse end of Ireland and discover that most people are fans of this team or that team… all of which are English.
If it’s your city’s/country’s team, has historically been your family’s team, there’s a player you particularly like or there’s something special that makes the team stand out (eg I support Chivas/Guadalajara becuase they only hire Mexicans). It has little to do with sports, tbh. I know very few people who support a sports team on its sporting merits alone and they’re all insufferable.
I don’t really give a flying fuck about team sports. They tend to bore the hell out of me.
So, depending on the event, when I’m being social and don’t mind playing along with sports talk, I’ve picked teams to tell people that I pretend to be a fan of. I’m honest about it, I say up front that I’m not a big sports fan, and that I don’t really care about any team, but I’ve picked some for the fun of talking about it.
I pick them by mascot most of the time. Currently, my top team is the Baltimore Ravens for US football. The Cardinals for baseball. I flipflop between the Hornets and the Bulls for basketball. I don’t run into enough hockey or soccer/football fans to have picked a specific team in either for the US options, though I say I support Arsenal for all other soccer. Why? When I looked up teams, it was the first I ran across.
Any suggestions for a hockey team? I’m open to anything with a cool mascot, or nice uniforms. I won’t give a flip about it in reality, but I promise I’ll watch them and cheer when it’s on.
I have never been a professional organized sports person. I played soccer in middle school, baseball in elementary school, but have never gone out of my way to watch any. If there was soccer, hockey, or baseball on tv and I could find nothing else I would watch.
I went to all of my daughter’s soccer games while she was in AYSO, and most of her home games when she played varsity.
Lately though I have really been into the PWHL (women’s hockey league). It just started its second season. There are only 6 teams currently. None of them are near me (I am in NM), none are near where I have lived. No one I know watches, the person who turned me onto it follows the Boston Fleet, which is kind of where I am settling.
