Most Hated Teams

There are very few words in the English language that can instantly inspire hate and anger in a person. Police, taxes, vegetables ? all of these illicit strong reactions, but they pail in comparison to some names that are a little more commonplace in the sports world ? Yankees, Duke, Cowboys.

What make sports work is the emotion, no matter how unfounded and ludicrous it may seem, that is attached to teams and games. Nothing makes a Red Sox fan angrier than a Yankee win and nothing will make waking up on a Monday morning harder for a Redskins' fan than a Sunday night loss to Dallas. Most teams have an arch-nemesis that makes their fans' collective blood boil and D.C.'s area teams are no exception. However some teams are so hate-able that the animosity transgresses the sport. Here are the D.C. areas most hated teams.

3. DUKE
The Maryland Terrapins have been a solid team for a few years now, even winning a National Championship. But no matter how good they are there is always one thorn in their ACC side, the Blue Devils. They are talented, well coached and extremely annoying. You have to hate a team that beats you year after year, especially when it seems like there is nothing you can do about it. If Maryland recruits three McDonald's All-Americans, Duke will sign five. On top of that, no one can pronounce the Blue Devils' coaches name. This coupled with the fact the Coach K sits on the bench stoically during games, hardly ever showing emotion, is enough to make you wonder whether he is in fact human, or just some super-computer programmed to create championship teams. Duke is the Goliath to Maryland's David, and College Park's controversial shirts convey the only sentiment the Terrapins have for the Blue Devils.

2. DALLAS
The Cowboys were dubbed ‘America's Team" by some genius in the 90's. Apparently he didn't take into account the opinion of the nation's capital. Redskins' fans absolutely hate their division rivals. To make matters worse, it seems like every year the Cowboys beat the Skins at least once. For the past few years Washington has been doing everything to make a good team. Dan Synder has spent heavily on free agents and swapped coaches, but has yet to find a winning combination. It took Dallas one try. Bill Parcells took a mediocre Cowboy team and sent them to the playoffs. Nothing, with the exception of Parcells sucker punching Joe Gibbs, could make the Redskin nation grimace more.

1. YANKEES
There is no team in any sport as hated as the Yankees. Period. Whether you don't like their owner, who is an overbearing tyrant, or you don't like their dominance via money or you just plain don't like how they finish above the O's every season, chances are you don't like the Yankees. When a team shows up on the field facing an opponent whose payroll is six times their own, you know they are in trouble. When the Yankees show up with four of the seven players in the Majors making over $100 million you start to wonder why Yankee Stadium isn't called Competitive Imbalance Field. There is really no reason to root for New York, unless you are from there. Supporting the Yankees is equivalent to supporting Microsoft.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Springbrook (they stole our mascot, you just have to hate them), the Washington Sentinels (the team that Keanu Reeves and others are called in to replace in "The Replacements", they were whiny snobs), Pittsburgh Penguins (Caps fans can't stand ‘em), the team the Mighty Ducks beat in the last game of the first movie (they were just plain jerks, and overrated)