Even though some of my fondest childhood memories involve everyone watching Steelers games at my Grandma's house, I did not grow up watching sports. Occasionally, there was football on. Sometimes we talked about who won at dinner. In high school, though, football games were a social occasion. And I loved a social occasion.
Also, some members of the football team. Not that they were ever aware of this. Or me.
I had friends who played lacrosse and friends who played soccer and friends who wrestled and even friends who played hockey, which was not a New Jersey thing yet. But I found watching my friends play fun. So when I happened to attend a college that was all about hockey, and befriended a coach's daughter, and lived downstairs from (it seemed like) half the team, I got really into hockey.
Also, some members of the hockey team. Not that they were aware of this. Or me.
My college, BU, was also basically adjacent to Fenway Park. Naturally, I got into baseball. I mean, I'd always rooted for the Yankees, because in junior high we all had to declare our allegiance and I liked their uniforms better, but my true fandom started with the Red Sox.
By the time I left Boston 5 years later (I stuck around for a year after graduating), I was a huge baseball fan, a big college hockey fan and somewhat of a pro hockey fan. Then I moved to Portland. The only team you heard about from Oregon back then was the Trailblazers.
This did not turn me into a basketball fan. I'm pretty sure nothing will turn me into a basketball fan, unless Lovebug continues his interest in it.
Out west, removed from my Red Sox and my BU Terriers and my NJ Devils, with no internet to help me stay up to date (it was 1994), I became a Mariners fan. And a T-birds fan. The Thunderbirds were Seattle's minor league hockey team in 1994. I should totally Google whether they still exist.
Which I guess is my point. After 2 years in Portland and then 2 in Seattle, I moved to Kansas City. Where I promptly became a Chiefs fan. I tried to like the Royals and I think I went to one minor league hockey game before the team moved, but there wasn't enough excitement. I tried to follow my old teams, but I didn't have fancy cable. Or that much of an inclination. And Chiefs games were so much fun. College football was so popular that it was easy to get sucked in. I promptly stopped following baseball and hockey and became a football fan.
I mean, I actually bought this outfit - or one similar - for baby Ironflower.
I discovered the truth when I moved back to the Northeast: I'm not really a fan at all. Since the New York area has so many teams for so many different sports, there's no city-wide obsession to get sucked into. Plus, I have no friends here who like to spend hours in sports bars drinking beer, eating fried foods and watching games.
I don't like sports; I like sports bars. And tailgating. And beer. And socializing. Home alone on a Sunday afternoon during football season? I will choose to get caught up on Parks and Recreation rather than watch a football game. Flipping the channels at bed time? I'll watch The Daily Show over any baseball game.
All these years I claimed to be a sports fan were a lie; I am actually a beer drinking fan who happens to understand the rules of most major sports.
*Tony Gonzalez was a Chiefs Tight End when I lived in Kansas City. My friend Mimi was truly in love with him, so much so that when I called her at 1 am from a club because he was there she almost left her then boyfriend in bed and came out. Also? She wasn't mad that I called her at 1 am from a club when she was sleeping peacefully with her boyfriend.
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