Sports. It’s how I met my husband. (Talking about them, not playing them). It’s not as if I started liking sports because he did. It’s also not because I’ve ever been good at any sport. Let’s face it. I am a huge klutz. But there’s something about them, something emotional for me. I love seeing athletes like Michael Phelps that are so dominant that they are the standard for generations, and I also love seeing underdogs accomplish the impossible.
One of my earliest sports memories is watching the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team, a bunch of amateurs, beat the Russian National Team and then Finland for the gold medal. I remember the ’81 Bengals taking on Joe Montana in the Super Bowl. A few years later I remember watching the Dayton Flyers take on powerhouse Georgetown in the Elite Eight. I remember watching all of these things with… wait for it… my mom. Thinking back, I imagine that’s because my dad had a job where he worked on the weekends where as my mom’s job was Monday through Friday. My dad liked sports too, but if I’m being honest I think my mom might have been the bigger, or certainly the more well-rounded, sports fan.
I’m also fortunate to have been able to attend a lot of great sporting events. My family had Bengals season tickets for many years. I’ve also been to a lot of Reds games, including games at Wrigley Field in Chicago and at Jacob’s Field in Cleveland. I saw Ken Griffey Jr’s 499th home run! I’ve been to an NBA game (Celtics vs. Pacers) and even a Nascar race. I been to college football and basketball games, and lest we forget… a million swim meets.
I LOVE the Olympics, preferring summer to winter. Hello. SWIMMING! I am a huge sucker for the athlete stories. I really enjoy tennis. I usually watch all the major finals. I have also found that I really like soccer. Although I am amateur soccer fan at best, I definitely could see myself following it more closely after the World Cup is over. I’m a big enough sports fan, that I will usually always watch the last round of the Masters or US Open, but in general I am not a big golf fan. I find it hard to watch. I hate playing golf, even putt putt. I also don’t like auto racing. I tried because my parents were big fans later in their lives, but I just couldn’t get into it. I’ve also never gotten into hockey.
Moving to Cincy has put us closer to teams we love, and we took advantage this week by going to a reds game. Very fun day!
Why this introspection about my love of sports? Because I am watching a Reds game that is currently in the 12th inning. You have to really like sports to watch a baseball game THIS long.
