Tennis: For women it's defintely the Williams sisters, they're just badazz. For guys it's went from Agassi, to Sampras, and now it's Roddick. (just a note...Roddick is hot ;) )

http://i.ivillage.com/womn/photos/andyroddick_thumb.jpg

Coincidentally Sports Illustrated finished its poll of Americans in every state and answered the initial question of this thread.

NFL:
Cowboys 8%
Packers 6%
49ers 6% (raiders werent even in the top 8)

Baseball:
Yanks 11%
Braves 9%
Cubs 8%

NBA:
Lakers 12%
Celtics 6%
Bulls 6%

NHL:
Red Wings 7%
Bruins, blackhawks, stars, rangers 4%
no favorite 40% (lol see, hockey sucks!)

College (no particular sport mentioned):
Notre Dame 4%
Nebraska 3%
Florida 2%
Michigan 2%
Penn St. 2%

If only 4% agreed on ND, I guess that shows that there is no such thing as a "National" team these days.

Homerism abounds. That's the way it should be.

Exactly - the more there is a "National" team, that means more fans rooting for a team they know nothing about, usually just rooting for the front-runner.

(and yes, I know I'm a Yankee fan - but that's different, I grew up and was raised a die-hard, even in the bad Andy Hawkins/Steve Sax years)