On Organized Sports

The Super Bowl has come and gone and I'd like to say, in the immortal words of Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler's character in the "Wedding Singer"), "Whoopity Dooo!" I do not say this because I want to diminish the achievements of the Seattle Seahawks this season, or incur the wrath of their fans; I am merely expressing the fact that I am just not that into sports.

I am by no means a sports hater, In fact, I was a sports lover for most of my youth. I do still catch the occasional sporting event on TV, but what I guess I am trying to say is that I am not really a fan of organized sports. I will happily shoot hoops with someone, throw a football around or even jump into a hockey game... well, maybe not hockey, seeing as though it has been over a decade since I strapped on a pair of skates and I would probably end up killing myself or some other unsuspecting participant. (Or more likely, strain muscles that have not been used in a looong time.)

When I say that I don't like organized sports, I mean that I do not follow teams or really care who is winning or losing a particular game, set, match or whatever. I wasn't always so indifferent about sports. When I was a kid I was a huge Yankees fan (I liked Graig Nettles in particular). I also rooted for the Montreal Canadiens and was proud to say that I was a Patriots fan, at a time when saying it out loud was met with scorn and ridicule (I was a huge Steve Grogan  fan!) I collected baseball cards (which I endlessly sorted and re-arranged) and would watch sporting events on TV all the time. Part of this love probably came from my father.

My father was definitely a sports fan. He loved the Bills for football (my brother was a Dolphins fan so there was a lot of smack talk during football season) and I'm sad to say I'm not sure who he favored in the other sports. In addition to his love of organized sports, he was always a part of my school sports. He coached little league, went to my basketball and soccer games and was really supportive of all my sporting endeavors. He would take the family to local sporting events: AHL hockey games and minor league baseball games, and he even took me and my brother to the only professional sporting event I have ever been too, a Montreal Expos game in Montreal.

Unfortunately my interest in organized sports started to wane as I got older. As other interests increased, my love of following teams diminished. In fact, by the time I got out of college, I couldn't have cared less what the Yankees or my former beloved Patriots were up to. I did not watch games on TV, unless there was nothing else on, and I really didn't care who was in the World Series, Super Bowl or Stanley Cup.

Let me stop for one second and say that I have never, ever had any interest in watching or following basketball, whether professional or college. Maybe there was a time that I would root for the Lakers, but overall, there was no interest. I think the Lakers were just a programmed response for when/if someone asked who I liked based on their success at that particular time. I was never interested in college basketball and now I pretty much hate it, primarily because it makes my current job harder once March rolls around.

Just because I do not follow sports teams does not mean I would never go to a sporting event if invited. There is something amazing about being at a live sporting event: the sights, the smells, the people, the energy, the food, it's wonderful... and there are no commercials! (Well except for the fact that everything that can be labeled with a corporate logo usually is.) There are also no annoying commentators, endlessly spouting off stats to fill in the spaces between the action. Commentators are why I can't even watch baseball games anymore and why I still do enjoy an occasional hockey game on the TV (there is no time for silly stats as the action is virtually non-stop.) In college I would go with a group of friends, which included several women (my wife being one of them) and had an awesome time. When it came right down to it, however, I didn't care where our school team finished each season or if they lost that night. To be honest, I was much more interested in the girls that we went with than the hockey game.

I will confess that of all the sports out there, I can understand following football more than any other. The fact that the season is so short and there are so few games, it makes each game very important. With hockey, baseball or basketball, considering the fact there are 5,000 games per season, there doesn't seem to be a need watch until the end of the season. And I also must confess, I do check up on the Patriots throughout the season, just to see how they are doing. But unlike my youth, I am not upset for days following a heartbreaking loss.

Sports fans come in a variety of flavors. You have the casual follower, who has a favorite team, and tries to catch a game every now and then. They usually know whether their team won their last game or not and probably know where their team is ranked, but that's about it. At the other extreme is the total sports fanatic. They know stats about the team and the players and have been to an actual game or two (if geographically/ economical possible). They own multiple pieces of clothing with their sports team on it and their mood is affected by the performance of their team for days after the last game. They may have even been responsible for hate mail/threats of violence to referees/officials after a loss. They may even hold a grudge for years and years after a particularly painful defeat.

I would never criticize the super fans out there. (Well, I'm sure there are a few out there who deserve criticism...) We all have our obsessions/ things we are passionate about. Some people collect guns, others are into comic books and some people are into "My Little Ponies" (they are out there... they are called Bronies. There is a documentary about it... who knew.) I personally devote many hours in a week, whether it is writing adventures (mini-stories) or just doing prep work, for my weekly pen and paper Role Playing Games. (If you don't know what this is, then it will take too much time to explain. Just know that it's pretty high on the nerdiness scale.)

To wrap this up, let me say that I am not in any way condemning the sports fans out there. You love your sports and that is cool. I have things I am passionate about and that is cool. We can all co-exist. Do not push your sports loving agenda on me, and I will not try to get you all to start playing Dungeons and Dragons. I was one of you once, so I understand you. I have stayed up late to catch the end of a game. I have cried after a crushing defeat (Remember, I was a Patriots fan, lot of tears back in the 80's). I rode the high of a World Series victory. I get the passion, the love of sports, the need to follow a team. The only thing I can't understand, the one mystery that eludes me to this day, is the love of NASCAR. It's not a sport, people. Calm down!