Detroit: The Sports City Everyone Loves to Hate

During the playoff runs of various Detroit teams in the past year, an interesting trend has arisen. It seems that opposing fans are taking great joy in chanting "De-troit sucks" during playoff games.

Over the years, the only other city I've ever seen draw the ire of fans as much is Los Angeles, with the famous "Beat L.A.!" chants commonplace around NBA arenas when the Lakers were powerhouses.

On top of that, the hecklers seem to come out in full force when Detroit teams are in town. Perhaps it's a result of the city's success across basketball with the Pistons, hockey with the Red Wings, and now baseball with the Detroit Tigers.

The hecklers always seem to come out in full force when Detroit teams are in town as well, especially when the Detroit Pistons come to town. Pistons hecklers are known as the some of the most ruthless ones in the NBA, so maybe the diehard fans from other teams are striking back when the Pistons are in their backyard. Mostly, however, the Pistons have players other fans love to hate.

Even though I love the Pistons, I'm the first to admit they (along with the Spurs) are one of the whiniest groups of players in the NBA, and it all started when Rasheed Wallace came to town. Wallace is very entertaining to watch when he's on your side, trust me, but for opposing fans, he gets on nerves faster than just about any player in the league. He complains about almost every call. Sometimes he's right and other times he's not, but his act gets old quick.

He also plays the Dennis Rodman/Bill Laimbeer/Reggie Miller role of villain on the road very well, often calling out the opposing team's fans and generally being loud and obnoxious for most of the game.

Throw in the fact that the Pistons have a history with the whole "Bad Boys" era and it's easy to understand why they are so hated by fans when they come to town in the playoffs.