Saturday, June 09, 2012

Daughters and Sports

I really enjoyed this column from the Sports Guy, especially the first half.  He talks about his daughters first sports team love and how she dealt with their first big loss.  Sample:
Then I remembered something. Sports is a metaphor for life. Everything is black and white on the surface. You win, you lose, you laugh, you cry, you cheer, you boo, and most of all, you care. Lurking underneath that surface, that's where all the good stuff is — the memories, the connections, the love, the fans, the layers that make sports what they are. It's not about watching your team win the Cup as much as that moment when you wake up thinking, In 12 hours, I might watch my team win the Cup. It's about sitting in the same chair for Game 5 because that chair worked for you in Game 3 and Game 4, and somehow, this has to mean something. It's about using a urinal between periods, realizing that you're peeing on a Devils card, then eventually realizing that some evil genius placed Devils cards in every single urinal. It's about leaning out of a window to yell at people wearing the same jersey as you, and it's about noticing an airport security guy staring at your Celtics jersey and knowing he'll say, "You think they win tonight?" before he does. It's about being an NBA fan but avoiding this year's Western Conference finals because you still can't believe they ripped your team away, and it's about crying after that same series because you can't believe your little unassuming city might win the title. It's about posing for pictures before a Stanley Cup clincher, then regretting after the fact that you did. It's about two strangers watching you cry at a stoplight. It's black and white, but it's not.
I don't know if my kids will be sports fans but my guess is yes.  I care about baseball and football enough that something will probably rub off on them.  On a random morning this spring, I wound up sandwiched on the couch between Relia and DF watching the Big Ten swimming and diving championships.  None of us are swimming fans.  We didn't know the athletes and only I cared even a little about the schools (go gophers).  But we watched and enjoyed. 
The Olympics start at the end of July and I expect that we'll have many little moments like that.  Not the team sports as much but the individual ones.  I'm sure Relia will run and jump around the house for a few weeks.  DF might too.  (Frankly I'd love to see his interpretation of the shot put.)  I doubt that there will be any broken hearts as the timing is a bit short for that. 
Real heartbreak?  My guess, that will be supplied by the Vikings.

1 comment:

DD4 said...

Well written, Peder. I enjoyed this.

I'm looking forward to the Olympics, too. It's great TV, and seeing these individuals pour their heart and soul into their passion, is very rewarding.