I’m the world’s worst (or best, depending on your perspective) fair weather sports fan.
I’m not a huge sports fan to begin with. I do have some favored teams, but I’m generally content to follow their fortunes in the newspaper or online, after the fact. I can’t remember the last sporting contest that I watched from start to finish, regardless of sport or level of competition. I guess I consume sports like I read…in fitful starts and stops, skimming and scanning.
But when I decide to watch a game, I want my team to win, and win decisively. I’m not in it for the humiliation of the other team – that’s not my motivation – but if that’s how they choose to react to a 72-0 drubbing, that’s their problem, not mine. For example, my favorite Super Bowl game of all time was the one where Dallas beat Buffalo 52-17, and I was upset because Leon Lett had a stupid fumble to thwart yet another Dallas touchdown.
Football and baseball games are just too time-consuming to sit through without getting a big payoff for what I’m investing via my viewing. In my internal risk-reward system, a close game doesn’t cut it, because the chances are too great that it’s going to end in disappointment. (Which, of course, may say more about the teams I choose to support than the nature of the game itself. Don’t go there.)
This whole line of thought comes up because of the pitiful showing by the Texas Rangers last night in the first game of the American League Championship Series. The Rangers blew a 5-0 lead and ultimately lost 6-5 to the hated New York Yankees. That game perfectly typifies all the reasons I don’t watch sports: three hours down the drain, and nothing gained, and, in fact, much emotional and psychic well-being forfeited.
So, the Rangers will have to get along without my presence for the remainder of their season (which will last two more games, I predict), as will the Cowboys. I won’t be watching the Aggies today, either, unless I check in at halftime and find they have a 64-0 lead. That’s MY kind of game!
I would almost catogorize you as a connoisseur fan. You pick and choose the sporting venue and what you desire or allow yourself to sample or tolerate from those multiple choices you have available at the convience of a remote in the comforts of your favorite spot on the couch. I understand that completely.
You make no claims about being any particular sports entity…. number one fan. You have chosen to dip you foot into that entertainment pool instead of diving head first into it. That is what makes the American experience so great.
The problem I run into consistently are the true weather fans that call themselves true blues, that will pick apart a high school football coaches’ game plan and players performance from their smug little seats…..and for example sakes…. at Grande Communications Stadium. The rude rhetoric and sly comments have seem to reach critical proportions during this age of this so called me-ism era. These ingrates must believe that they are the reincarnation of Lombardi.
Give these folks a high school team that always notches a victory in every game and you have no problems. They are the picture of fan perfection, however if …heaven forbid….lose a few games, then the onslaught of armchair quarterbacks begin to grumble and moan.
I have no problem with folks second guessing professional sports and to some degree college events. However high school provides ample opportunity for folks to relax, social and root for their kids or their neighbors kid no matter what transpires on the field of play. Friday nights are an opportunity to escape from the mundane activities that infiltrate our day to day lives and to experience the joy of being part of the team effort, win, lose or overtime.
….and you are right. Leon Lett’s effort still bugs me too.
Thanks for making me sound more thoughtful and discerning than I am (although most would rightly argue that’s not hard to do).
I agree with your assessment of high school sports; it’s a sad fact that adults tend to ruin most things they get involved with.
But there is one issue that makes things a little less black-and-white even at the high school level, and it relates to the lucrative business of college and professional sports, especially the “money sports” (football and basketball). When that rare kid comes along who has true potential to be a successful athlete at the higher levels, what is the high school coach’s responsibility to properly showcase his or her talents? When such decisions could make a difference between a full-ride scholarship at a tier 1 college, vs. a walk-on role at a local community college, the implications are huge. Just glad I don’t have to make those calls.
The Rangers wouldn’t have wasted your time today, although I did nap through part of it. zzzzz
Since I didn’t see where I could comment on the KOMA reference, I must say that I spent many a night in New Mexico listening to KOMA–it was the only station we could get at night and by far the best one day or night!! Thanks for the memories….
We had a dance tonight so I didn’t have to sweat through the game like last night, but I understand it was deja vu for a while. Glad they hung on this time.
Sorry about the absence of comments on the KOMA post; I clicked the wrong square when I published it. I think KOMA is a shared experience for many of us of a “certain age.” 😉