The Rhombus of Evil (Sports Edition)

Rhombus- a simple (non self-intersecting) quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. ( and people think this blog isn't educational...)

Many of you may remember the speech President Bush (43) gave in the early 2000's in which he referred to 3 countries in the world as the "Axis of Evil."  These were the nations he deemed most like to do harm to the United States. This past Friday night I was talking with an old friend about sports and who our favorite teams are.  Over the course of the conversation she revealed to me that she and her family pull for many of the teams that I consider to be pure evil- the Darth Vader's of the sports world.  This set to me thinking- who would make my sports version of the "Axis of Evil?"  I also threw the question out on Twitter to get a feel for how others would respond.  I quickly realized that there are 4 major sports that I really care about- College Football, College Basketball, Major League Baseball and the NFL (I don't really care about the NBA, plus LeBron James is an Axis of Evil unto himself!).  So I need more than an axis- I need a rhombus!  Four sides, and 4 teams that I wouldn't root for if they were playing the State Prison All-Stars.  Here are my choices; I cannot wait to hear yours! 

Major League Baseball:  Boston Red Sox- This is the most recent addition to my list of teams that I utterly despise! I am passionate about baseball and have been for a very long time. For the longest time there was no team I truly despised year in and year out. I grew up a huge Atlanta Braves fan and still pull for them.  And for a long time my American League team was the BoSox. One of my first memories of MLB was watching my favorite player, Carl Yaszstremski, win the triple crown and led the team on the 1967 impossible dream. I felt the pain of losing the Reds in 1975.  I lived in New England in 1986 and watched with horror as the ball rolled through Buckner's legs. The names Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone haunted me. I was really a Yankee hater until around 2005, after the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series.  Slowly but surely in the years since, both their players and fans have become increasingly obnoxious and are now worse than the Yankees. Living in Tampa and pulling for the Rays allows me the luxury of disliking both. But I can now honestly say there is no team in baseball I do not pull for against the Red Sox. They have made the list.

College Football: University of Alabama- I love college football, but except for the rare season in which my UNC Tar Heels are competitive, I have no real "favorite team."  Back in the day of the wishbone offense I loved the U. of Oklahoma; more recently I have favored the Florida Gators and right now I am in love with the offense of the Clemson Tigers. But the evil empire of college football for me has long been the Crimson Tide and that ridiculous elephant mascot.  It sounds blasphemous, but I never liked Bear Bryant. I became an Auburn fan way back during the Pat Sullivan to Terry Beasley years, and that pushed 'Bama higher up the list. And they cemented that spot for all-time when they hired Nick Saban a few years back. I don't use foul language, so I will simply say "I don't care for the man."  I also could have gone with Nebraska or most any team from the Big Ten...

NFL:  Dallas Cowboys- I grew up in NC as a Washington Redskins fan, so disliking the Cowboys came naturally.  But I didn't really start to HATE them until 1975, when they beat the Minnesota Vikings on the worst no-call on offensive pass interference in history. Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson.  It still hurts.  You have to go all the way back to Don Meredith to find a Cowboys player I really liked.  And as for Tony Romo...he has one playoff win in his career.  Just like Tim Tebow.  If the Cowboys had played the Russians during the Cold War, I would have pulled for the Russians.  I don't even dislike the Oakland Raiders quite that much.  :)

College Basketball: Duke University- Where I grew up, college basketball is not a sport, it is a religion.  You become a fan of a school early on and you are a fan for life.  I began watching ACC basketball and cheering for UNC at a very young age, in the days of Larry Miller and Charlie Scott. And I have never looked back. And so quite clearly, without any doubt, the blackest heart of any team in any sport can be found at Cameron Indoor Stadium on the campus of Dook University! Some years it is just the team that seems like pure evil. Other years evil has a specific name: Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner, Shane (Flop) Battier, Cherokee Parks or J.J. Reddick.  I must admit that Coach K is a good man and a great coach; he is second only to Dean Smith on any legitimate list of best coaches ever in the Chapel Hill/Durham area.  :)  Nothing in sports feels better than beating Dook; nothing is worse than losing to them.  People here in Florida think that UF/Florida State is a big deal.  Others might say Michigan/Oho State is the big one.  My response to that is put both schools in same place, 8 miles apart, and then come talk to me.  UNC/Dook is the ultimate rivalry, and the Blue Devils are without question the Darth Vader/Hannibal Lechter/Lex Luthor of my sporting world.

So there you have my rhombus; who makes up yours?  Feel free to add different sports if needed.  I just want to know the teams that make your blood boil- in a bad way.  It's time to vent!