- Publish date:
The Poll Californians weigh in on sports*
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Favorite major league baseball team:
San Francisco Giants...46% Los Angeles Dodgers...28%
Oakland Athletics.....16% Anaheim Angels.......18%
Los Angeles Dodgers...9% San Diego Padres.....8%
Favorite NFL team:
San Francisco 49ers...50% San Diego Chargers...11%
Oakland Raiders.......10% San Francisco 49ers...11%
Green Bay Packers....4% Oakland Raiders.......9%
No favorite.................11% No favorite..............20%
Favorite NBA team:
Sacramento Kings...30% Los Angeles Lakers...56%
Los Angeles Lakers...16% Los Angeles Clippers...5%
Golden State Warriors...9% Sacramento Kings....4%
No favorite...............30% No favorite...............22%
Favorite NHL team:
San Jose Sharks.....45% Anaheim Mighty Ducks...22%
Los Angeles Kings.....4% Los Angeles Kings...16%
No favorite................37% No favorite..............44%
Favorite pro team:
San Francisco 49ers...23% Los Angeles Lakers...22%
San Francisco Giants...20% Los Angeles Dodgers...8%
Sacramento Kings.....11% San Francisco 49ers...6%
Oakland Athletics.......7% Anaheim Angels...........6%
Favorite college:
Stanford.....................16% UCLA.......................25%
Cal..............................14% USC..........................24%
Fresno State...............6% Notre Dame...............4%
Sports figure you would most like to have dinner with:
Joe Montana.............15% Shaquille O'Neal........4%
Barry Bonds...............4% Joe Montana.............4%
Michael Jordan..........4% John Wooden............3%
Steve Young...............4% Wayne Gretzky..........3%
John Madden.............4% Tiger Woods...............3%
Greatest athlete who ever lived in or played for a team in your
state:
Joe Montana............36% Magic Johnson........12%
Barry Bonds...............12% Kareem Abdul-Jabbar...9%
Willie Mays................10% Joe Montana.............8%
Jerry Rice...................9% Wayne Gretzky..........7%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar...4% Jackie Robinson.......4%
State's biggest rivalry:
Dodgers-Giants........27% UCLA-USC...............39%
Cal-Stanford.............20% Kings-Lakers............14%
Kings-Lakers.............19% Dodgers-Giants........13%
49ers-Raiders...........18% Chargers-Raiders......9%
UCLA-USC..................7% Angels-Dodgers.........4%
State's biggest rival:
Texas.........................22% New York.................23%
New York...................18% Texas.........................14%
Arizona.......................8% Arizona......................10%
Favorite announcer:
John Madden...........36% Vin Scully................37%
Vin Scully....................8% John Madden..........16%
More a fan of college or pro sports?
Pro............................84% Pro............................73%
College.......................8% College......................12%
Favorite sport to play:
Cycling.......................15% Swimming..................11%
Golf.............................13% Lifting weights.........10%
Hiking........................13% Basketball..................9%
Baseball/softball........11% Hiking..........................9%
Basketball..................11% Running/jogging.......9%
Swimming....................11% Golf............................8%
Favorite sports to watch on TV+:
Football.....................82% Football....................68%
Winter Olympics......60% Basketball................51%
Summer Olympics....55% Summer Olympics...49%
Baseball....................52% Baseball...................49%
Basketball................37% Winter Olympics.....44%
Ice skating.................31% Ice skating...............22%
ENEMY
OF THE STATE
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Al Davis...................................37%
George Steinbrenner............15%
Shaquille O'Neal....................8%
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Al Davis...................................36%
George Steinbrenner............10%
Georgia Frontiere...................6%
Californians agree on whom they hate most: the man who moved his
Raiders from Oakland to L.A. and back, griping all the way.
Northern Californians chose as their most detested opponents the
New York Yankees (19%), the Raiders (13%) and the Dallas Cowboys
(11%). Southern Californians selected the Raiders (25%), the
Yankees (18%) and the Sacramento Kings (7%).
*Harris Interactive online poll, of 812 California residents
(411 from the north, 401 from the south) who identified
themselves as sports fans. Margin of error +/-5%.
+Multiple responses allowed.
COLOR PHOTO: DAVID J. PHILLIP/AP
COLOR ILLUSTRATION Enthuse-o-meter On a scale of 1 to 100, how would you rate your state's enthusiasm for sports, relative to other states'?
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
COLD--78.2--HOT
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
COLD--74.2--HOT
Rank: would be 29th and 37th, respectively, if each were a state
To read an SI Flashback story about John Wooden's final NCAA
championship, view a gallery of every Angels, A's, Dodgers and
Giants cover, or submit your own Golden State sports memory, go
to si.com/50.
