The Poll Oklahomans weigh in on sports*
Favorite major league baseball team:
St. Louis Cardinals...14%
New York Yankees....11%
Texas Rangers.........10%
Favorite NFL team:
Dallas Cowboys.......37%
Kansas City Chiefs....7%
Oakland Raiders........7%
Favorite NBA team:
Los Angeles Lakers...15%
Dallas Mavericks......14%
San Antonio Spurs....7%
No favorite................40%
Favorite NHL team:
Dallas Stars...............11%
No favorite...............62%
Favorite pro team:
Dallas Cowboys.......28%
St. Louis Cardinals....9%
Greatest athlete who ever lived in or played for a team in your
state:
Jim Thorpe..............43%
Barry Sanders..........16%
Mickey Mantle.........10%
Troy Aikman...............5%
State's biggest rivalry:
Oklahoma-Okla. St...79%
Oklahoma-Texas.......14%
Favorite announcer:
John Madden..........23%
Bob Barry...................8%
More a fan of college or pro sports?
College.....................44%
Pro.............................31%
Equal........................25%
Favorite sport to play:
Fishing......................18%
Golf.............................16%
Swimming.................16%
Baseball/softball......12%
Hunting......................8%
Favorite sports to watch on TV+
Football....................80%
Summer Olympics...53%
Winter Olympics.....50%
ENEMY OF THE STATE
Mack Brown....................21%
Jerry Jones....................12%
Darrell Royal..................10%
Almost every football coach or owner associated with Texas is
despised in the Sooner State. (Fourth in the voting was Jimmy
Johnson.) Oklahomans' most hated foes: the Texas Longhorns (75%),
Nebraska Cornhuskers (11%) and Texas A&M Aggies (4%).
*Harris Interactive poll, conducted online, of 416 Oklahoma
residents who identified themselves as sports fans. Margin of
error +/-5%.
+Multiple responses allowed.
COLOR CHART Enthuse-o-meter On a scale of 1 to 100, how would you rate your state's enthusiasm for sports, relative to other states'? COLD----86.8--HOT Rank: 3rd of first 24 states polled
COLOR PHOTO: DONNA MCWILLIAM/AP (BROWN)
To read an SI Flashback story about Oklahoma's 2000 national
championship, view a gallery of every OU cover or vote for the
greatest Sooners squad of all time, go to
si.com/magazine/features/si50/states/oklahoma
