Top celebrity sports fans

For a not-so-brief and thoroughly lamentable time, Monday Night Football became more about promoting celebrities and their upcoming vehicles than about the game.

Each week, star types would be dragged into the booth. Many of them made it perfectly clear that this minute or two before the cameras was the only reason they were within 50 miles of the stadium.

Game? What game?

Not all celebs are this way, of course. Many actually buy season tickets and enjoy making it out to the stadium or arena. Quite a few even know more about the home team than the average fan.

Here’s a list of some well-known folks who seem to be genuine sports enthusiasts. We probably missed a few, but, hey, these things happen.

Jack Nicholson: He’s there for the Lakers thick and thin. And, until the 2008 Finals, there had been plenty of thin since the Showtime days.

Billy Crystal: Yankees fan made the very respectable baseball movie 61. He’s also a Los Angeles Clippers season ticket holder. Now that’s a fan.

Bill Murray: Longtime (and long-suffering) Cubs fan, not to mention a golf enthusiast who has been known to liven things up at Pebble Beach.

Spike Lee: Woody Allen is a diehard Knicks fan, too, but Spike actually participates.

Rudy Giuliani: Former New York mayor has been a fixture at Yankees games, particularly the ones on national TV.

Ashley Judd: University of Kentucky alum once posed in a hockey sweater (and, from the looks of things, little else) to help promote the Wildcat pucksters. When the UK men’s basketball team is in the NCAA Tournament, she’s a regular face in the crowd.

George W. Bush: Longtime baseball fan once was managing general partner of the Texas Rangers.

Mark Cuban: Mavericks owner bought the team when it was awful because he loved the game. Now, he’s a courtside referee-baiter. Also made a bid to buy the Cubs.

Eva Longoria: Wife of San Antonio point guard Tony Parker is a regular at Spurs games.

Stephen King: Longtime Red Sox fan co-wrote a book about the team’s breakthrough 2004 World Series championship.

Will Ferrell: Actor/comedian is a big supporter of University of Southern California football.

Matthew McConaughey: Actor attended the University of Texas and is very visible at Longhorn football games. 

George H.W. Bush: The elder Bush and wife Barbara are big fans of the Houston Astros.

Bill Cosby: A tireless supporter of his beloved Temple Owls.

Regis Philbin: Notre Dame alum is a big advocate of the Fighting Irish.