What's your favorite sport? We've got you covered

We are a city that loves its NFL team as well as its NASCAR racin' but is ambivalent about its NBA team. Our collegiate allegiances are all over the place. We're a pro football town and a college basketball town. We like players that run fast and cars that go faster.

Let's start with the pro sports that matter the most. If you're a newcomer, there are three you should know about: The Carolina Panthers. The Charlotte Bobcats. NASCAR.

That trio towers above everyone else. If you're new to our city, you can start a conversation with practically anyone here by asking a question like this:

What do you think of that last interception Jake Delhomme threw?

Is Dale Earnhardt Jr. overrated or what?

Do you think the Bobcats are ever going to capture the city like the Charlotte Hornets once did? (This question will give you bonus points with many old-time Charlotte residents, who remember the Hornets' hold on the city in the late 1980s and early 1990s with warm, fuzzy feelings but still hold the Bobcats at arm's length.)

Let's take that trio one by one, starting with the Panthers – easily the most popular team in town. When they made it to the Super Bowl following the 2003 season (but lost), it was like the whole city floated on air for two weeks.

For the 2009 season, the Panthers have 20 of 22 starters returning from a team that went 12-5 last season. The Panthers made it to the final eight of the NFL playoffs in the 2008 season before getting thumped by Arizona when Delhomme threw five interceptions. They might be very good again, but their 2009 schedule is brutal. They have never made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

The Panthers' best player is mercurial wide receiver Steve Smith, who is both electrifying and temperamental. Their most-debated player is Delhomme – a happy-go-lucky risk-taker who has both a “Good Jake” and a “Bad Jake” persona on the field. Their richest player is defensive end Julius Peppers, who will be (over)paid more than $1 million per game this season.

Want to see a Panthers home game? Most are officially sold out long before they kick off, but you can often unofficially get seats at a reasonable price outside the stadium an hour or two before the game.

The Bobcats? They are beginning their sixth year in the NBA. So far they've lost millions of dollars and haven't made the playoffs. They play in a jewel of a gym – Time Warner Cable Arena, located uptown – but rarely sell it out. As opposed to the Panthers, you can walk up to a Bobcats' game practically anytime and buy a ticket for face value.

But the Bobcats do have hope. They have a hall of fame coach in Larry Brown and a decent nucleus of players including Gerald Wallace and Boris Diaw. They might actually squeeze into the playoffs in year six.

NASCAR? The vroom from a car engine is one of Charlotte's most well-known sounds. Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord has been holding races for 50 years, and most of the top drivers live and work in or near Charlotte. Earnhardt Jr. is the sport's most popular name but has yet to come anywhere near the success his dad had in the sport.

Collegiately, the most popular local teams are the Charlotte 49ers and the Davidson Wildcats – specifically their men's basketball teams.

Davidson has garnered far more publicity and success in the past few years, but this season must adjust to life without baby-faced superstar Stephen Curry. The 49ers, under coach Bobby Lutz, have struggled the past couple of years in the Atlantic 10 conference. They face what may be a make-or-break season for Lutz in 2009-10.

The ACC also casts a huge shadow here. The North Carolina Tar Heels inspire more love (and disdain) than any other college squad even though they play 140 miles away in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels won the NCAA basketball title in 2009. Either UNC or Duke makes the men's Final Four most seasons.

Duke, Wake Forest and N.C. State all have substantial collegiate followings here as well, as do non-ACC teams like Appalachian State, Western Carolina and East Carolina.

We've got lots of good minor-league teams in the area, too, including baseball's Charlotte Knights, who actually play in Fort Mill, S.C., and the Charlotte Eagles soccer team, who play at Charlotte Christian School's stadium. The Charlotte Checkers hockey team, who play at Time Warner Cable Arena, have their own die-hard fans and provide good entertainment for a low price. And the Quail Hollow Championship brings most of the best golfers in the world to town every spring.

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