ESPN and beyond

I’ve finally decided that I just have to admit that I like sports. I like going to sports events and I like playing them with my kids and yes, I like watching SportsCenter and even some of those other shows on ESPN. Some people will think this is a silly thing to admit, since I am competitive at most everything. Also, I was a middling softball player in high school. It’s true that I’ve never been the girl who thought you scored touchdowns in baseball, but I’ve also never really followed current sports news closely either. However, since the kids have been born, I’ve watched a lot more sports. The Food Network and ESPN have been deemed “safe” grown up channels for the kiddos. The news is not safe. Random sitcom re-runs are not safe. So I’m now ready to admit that I actually like it!

In the past few years we’ve been to more “big market” events… a Red Sox game at Fenway, a Cubs game at Wrigley, the Carolina game at the DeanDome a few weeks ago. These have made me realize that it is perfectly normal for people of all walks of life to love a particular team and sport. Women wear their team jerseys with pride! I’ve never really lived in a big market area where a community rallied around one team, and I think that really is a bigger deal than I realized. Boston lives and breathes the Red Sox. The Chapel Hill area loves UNC. Even the Cubs (who are terrible) have a great fan base. Asheville just doesn’t have a particular big deal team. I think I’m sad about that – minor league stuff just isn’t the same, and I’d really enjoy pulling for a team along with my friends. I know, we’re the community that rallies around eating organic and fair trade and being green, which is really great. I just wish we also lived closer to a sports team that all the community also loved.

But I’ll take watching exciting TV (NFL playoffs!) and teaching the kids the small amount I know about how to play. And I won’t hide that I can talk somewhat knowledgably about various teams. We’ll keep going to various ball games – mostly kid stuff, but hopefully other games, too. Maybe I’ll have a fantasy football team one day, even though I don’t understand it!