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Welcome to the refreshed SLC Dunk! To celebrate the new look and feel of our sports communities, we’re sharing stories of how and why we became fans of our favorite teams. If you’d like to share your story, head over to the FanPosts [http://www.slcdunk.com/fanposts] to write your own post. Each FanPost will be entered into a drawing to win a $500 Fanatics gift card [contest rules]. We’re collecting all of the stories here [https://www.sbnation.com/why-we-are-fans] and featuring the best ones across our network as well. Come Fan With Us!
During my formative years in the 90s there wasn’t a lot of NBA basketball on television over here (The Netherlands). Sure, you had NBA Jam on the SNES that we played, and wearing sports caps was all the rage, but in terms of the actual game we just got short recaps of the Finals. Which meant that most people were Bulls fans over here.
But even in those few minutes we got of each Finals game, I fell in love with the other team. I was too young to appreciate the intricacies of the offense, but I sure picked up on fighting your heart out as a group and getting buckets relying on team play more so than someone’s athleticism. At one point the Jazz had me so firmly hooked that I started looking up their results every morning on teletext, and even, when time permitted me to do so, stayed up late to listen to radio streams of Hot Rod Hundley. Thankfully, now, I can watch every game, and am able to do so on demand.
There was, by the way, a third group in The Netherlands in the 90s aside from Bulls and Jazz fans. Hornets fans. They had the snazziest cap after all.
BIO: I am Stef Siepel, live in the Netherlands, and have been following the NBA since the mid-90s. So no wonder I am a Jazz fan, getting into the NBA during the peak years of Stockton, Malone, and Jerry Sloan. For over a decade now I have been writing for different websites about either basketball or music, which are my two main hobbies/loves. Aside from that I work in education, play a bit of sports myself, and try and get in some games or a movie/series every now and again.
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