Better Know a MT Sports Fan: Mint Writer Z-Train
The Z-Train is a regular contributor to the Montana Mint Superfan Sports column. Despite growing up in Central Montana, he is a fan of the Boston Celtics, the Seattle Supersonics, and the Washington Nationals. Today we ask him where his fandom started.
Better know a MT Sports Fan is a feature from the Montana Mint where we ask Montanans how they started rooting for their favorite team. Montana is unique in that not only does the state not have any pro sport teams, but neither do the states surrounding it. This leads to some interesting combos. Check out the full series here.
Seattle Supersonics/Boston Celtics: First true love is, and forever will be, Seattle Supersonics. They actually played an exhibition game in Missoula when I was in 6th grade against the Vancouver Grizzlies and Bryant “Big Country” Reeves.
“as an aside, Shaq called Big Country the hardest player he ever had to guard. I think that’s because Big Country was the only player that approached Shaq’s size.” – Z-Train
Shawn Kemp didn’t even play, but I went and still loved it. I had Kemp jerseys and Sonics hats and will forever believe that the 1995-1996 Sonics were an all-time great team. They won 64 games the year the Bulls won 72 and lost 4-2 to the MJ buzz saw in the finals.
All-time greats!
Since the Sonics disappeared, I transferred my interest fully to the Boston Celtics. Growing up, my grandparents lived right in the heart of Celtics country. They would send me Larry Bird hats and jerseys, and take me to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA when I visited. I still have a Larry Bird Sports Illustrated VHS that features a killer Larry-Magic nostalgic montage over Steely Dan’s “reelin in the years” and it would make every one of us cry. My wife, the train conductor, got me a signed Bird jersey for my birthday this year. I wear it every day under my suit.
To a lesser extent, I follow the Washington Wizards because I lived in and around DC for six years and now John Wall is absolutely electrifying to watch. They stunk for the most the time I lived there: tickets were like 15 bucks back then and the loudest cheer of the game consistently came during the 4th quarter promotion where you’d get a free chipotle burrito the next day if an opposing player missed two free throws in a row. But they got better…I went to a Wiz/Bulls playoff game with Bear Tycoon where Thunder Mike Dunleavy unexpectedly dropped 30 points.
NO NFL TEAM:
I don’t know why I don’t have a favorite NFL team. My dad was an L.A. Raiders guy, and followed them to Oakland, but the NFL was never something we followed together. Without having someone to root for, I can go a Sunday without watching a game and be happy and not realize it.
I think the NFL is a shitty organization, and I wonder if I would be more inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt if I was emotionally involved with some team. I’ve been to two WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM games, and they were sub-par fan experiences. Ticket prices were insane, we were 95 yards from the action with an obstructed view, and the play stopped for a TV timeout constantly, destroying the flow of the game.
terrible.
Not to mention we were surrounded by boorish drunk NFL fans that were bitter, drooling, and waiting to punch someone. The people around us were hammered, abrasive, and vulgar. I am often two out of three of those so it had to be another level to bother me.
Washington Nationals: I’m not a big baseball or hockey fan. If I had to pick, I’d choose the DC teams because I went to a fair amount of Caps and Nats games when I lived there. And I feel an emotional connection because of that. However, to show how boring these sports are: I went to Stephen Strasbourg’s first home game with the Nationals, which was a sellout crowd. I spent 4 innings in line to get a chicken and waffle sandwich and didn’t feel like I missed anything.
more exciting than baseball.
Washington Capitals: See my Nats explanation—except that NHL games are incredible in person. Too bad that doesn’t transfer to TV.
The Montana Mint has a weekly sports email. It is THE BEST! Sign up here
Related Posts
Dalton Sneed, Former Griz QB | Montana Mint Sports Pod Ep. 54 →
On to Round 3! Cats v Austin Peay and Griz @ Weber | Montana Mint Sports Pod Ep. 52 →
Big Sky, Big Takes Episode #7 →
