Best Southern Sports City

[Southernyank]

i'd probably have to go with miami on this one for two main reasons. its hard to go against a city at this point in time who has dwayne wade and shaq daddy on one of its pro teams. also THE U football program, like a few others(the ohio state, usc, etc) has this undying culture regardless of attendence numbers. and im not talking about with just the fans, im talking about the NFL alumni. i was watching this special on ESPN a few weeks ago, showcasing all of THE U alumn and how they are one big family though they are mostly all opposition. the way they embrace the current UM players was nothing but love, teaching, and firm example setting as well. i forget off the top of my head, but quite a few of those NFLers had their alma mater tatted somewhere on their person. thats love for your team! i wish this was biggest sports state, cuz i'd go with NC in a flash. just thinking about all of that college basketball makes me drool!!

[Clobber]

I agree with Cooper. I think a great sports city is not one that necessarily has the most sports options, but one that supports the teams it does have. I am not sure that Miami has a great record in this respect although they do have a lot of options (so interest is watered down) and most immigrants probably wouldnt care about football or hockey. This is why I picked Dallas b/c I think they support teams the most.

I'd go even beyond that. It's not just about supporting the teams it has, but about supporting sports, and having a rabid interest in it, even if it's not the hometown team. In Dallas' case, that means rabid support for A&M and UT helps, although the lack of support for local universities should detract from it (i.e. SMU). In a similar vein, a city like Memphis has tens of thousands of UTn, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Miss. State fans, as well as tens of thousands of Tiger fans. Memphis has thousands of Cowboys and Steelers, and StL Cardinals fans as well. That makes it a great sports city as much as its support for the Grizzlies and Redbirds, for all the special sporting events. You can make the same argument for a city like Birmingham w/ Bama and Auburn, although they should support UAB much more.

Another factor is support through thick and thin. What happens if your team starts losing. It's the rare city where the fans show up no matter what. To be honest, I don't think Dallas fits that profile; there's just so much to do there, they don't have the patience for that. Not like Packers fans or Cubs fans.

That being said, I don't think any city rates a 10 on everything -- sports offerings, support for local teams, support for sports in general, and support through thick and thin.

Per capita, I'd put Memphis right up there. Support through thick and thin is tough, because for a city its size, there's just so much to do in Memphis. If the fact they wouldn't bend over for carpetbagger Bud Adams isn't compelling enough for ya, they do have the best franchise in baseball, if not all of professional sports, the pioneering not-for-profit Memphis Redbirds, and the city has been consistently at the top in AAA attendance. Grizzlies, Memphis, Arkansas State, Ole Miss are all within an hour's drive. PGA, Liberty Bowl, Southern Heritage Classic, racing, one of the more prestigious non-major tennis championships (both men's and women's), and a lot of other crap (marathons, triathalons, etc). Memphis has hosted three major professional boxing events, as well as Olympic trials, and is a blossoming boxing bastion (sorry, I wanted to try out a little alliteration). Aside from local schools, the support for the SEC is remarkable, with thousands travelling all the way to UTn, Miss State, Ark, etc. I assume we're not going to get into local athletes, but Memphis ranks pretty high per capita there as well, and not just in high school basketball (if you're an SEC fan, you understand). Anyway, the list might be more impressive if I listed it bulletpoint-style, instead of in a linear fashion.

This about says it all for me. I'm not a total sports fan but I do not doubt this list at all other than I would have thought Dallas higher than Houston.

As far as saying best southern sports city, are we referring to revenue generated but sports events, fan loyalty, national recognition, and development cause by said events? Or are we speaking of the emotional quotient? If the latter is the case then I would say that the list if probably very accurate.

For the record I initially voted Dallas......

Sporting News is ridiculous. It puts too much emphasis on which cities have the most teams that are successful, and really trivializes the importance of support through thick and thin, and support for other sports teams.

[Rural King]

I agree with Clobber and think Memphis does a very good job of supporting sports with in the city. One just has to look at the city's good support for the UofM sports teams, the Redbirds, and the Grizz to see a good strong core of support for sports in the city, not to mention High School sports.

[Exodus]

Mt. Pilot S.C.