Free Agent Fan part 2

Well, it's October. The NFL season is well under way and the NHL season is a couple of weeks old.

As anyone who read my first free agent fan post knows, this past offseason I declared myself a free agent fan.
The video taping scandal still hangs like a dark cloud over the Patriots for me, and the drafting of a player, who eventually became the main suspect in a murder investigation, even though it was well known he had attitude and social issues during or before his college career, only added to the foul stench I sense every time I think of the Pats.
Five games into the season and I will admit, I have probably watched more football at this time of the season than I have in a long time. I used to just watch the Pats games and then either turn the TV off, switch it to the NFL Network for highlights, or just have the next game on the same channel playing for background noise while I did other things. This year though, I've actually been watching several games every Sunday, as well as the Thursday and Monday night games, no matter who is playing. I've watched the Pats play, amongst the other games.... and I always have the same feeling in my gut.... the one that says "I can not support this team anymore". Heck, the only reason I started following this team was because of their logo in SuperBowl XX. Yep, that's right, I started following football when my dad turned on SuperBowl XX, and I knew nothing about football at that time, so I chose based on the cool looking Patriot Pat logo on the side of the helmet. Pretty weak decision making skills, I know.

As for the NHL.... well, the Kevin Lowe comments still reverberate through my head whenever discussions lead to the Edmonton Oilers. For those that don't know, Mr Lowe basically said he didn't give a crap what the fans who didn't attend games thought, because they're not important to the Oilers, only the fans in the seats matter... I'm paraphrasing of course. That pissed me off, while also making me question why I am a fan of teams I have little to no chance of ever seeing at their home stadiums arenas.
Add to that, the fact that the Oilers have changed their coaches and GM's umpteen times in the last decade, which makes it look like there is no real direction for this team.

So, I've decided to pick a new team for all of the major league sports, even baseball and soccer, and I'll even throw in a basketball team.
My criteria for choosing new teams is simple...

First, what ever teams I choose, they have to be from the same city. I'm tired of having teams from different cities, and different parts of the continents, especially when one team is in the playoffs in one sport playing against a team from a city which has a team in another sport I support.

Second, the team/city has to be within a reasonable driving distance from where I live... let's say 8 hours. I can sit in a car for 8 hours and not feel like I need to go for a walk for an hour afterwards.

Third, the city has to have a team in at least 3 major leagues (I'm not that devoted to MLS and NBA).

Fourth, there must be some legitimate culture and history of at least 2 of the franchises... I don't want teams that are new to the area because they got relocated. I want a history that actually becomes part of the history of the city itself.

Fifth, a passionate fan base. I don't want to be a fan of a team nobody talks about if they're not winning. I want to hear the groaning and moaning about how bad our team is and what the franchise should be doing differently when we're losing.

Sixth, at least one of the teams can't have won their sports championship within the last ten years. I'll even throw in I'd like a team that is on a losing streak the past few years... I need to feel the suffering to be able to feel like I am a real fan.

And finally, Seventh, I'd like a city that some resemblance to the area I grew up in... a city with an industrial history, surrounded by proud, hard working farms/farmers. So basically a mid-west city.

That's it. Not hard right? Well.... looking at a map, my choices are pretty limited, especially when you factor in the above criteria. I'm looking at choosing between Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Upon seeing those names I have to admit, Detroit and Chicago are the front runners.

I'll let you know what I decide.