So, before I got married I didn't care about sports. I kind of followed BYU football. If it was on TV and I was looking for something to watch and I came across it, I would stop and watch for a few minutes or I would look up the score to see if BYU won. I hated basketball, however, if the Jazz were in the playoffs, I would pay attention. Yes, I was a "bandwagon" fan. I could have cared less about baseball. But then when I got to college, I started to realize that most of the boys I was interested in were into sports. So I started to pay more attention just so I would impress him by knowing something about sports.
Well August 2004 (this has to do with my conversion) I met Mark. I instantly found out he was into sports because he was wearing his New York Mets jersey. A couple of days later, he invited my apartment to play flag football. Wanting to impress him that I would play sports, I went to play. A couple of weeks later Mark asked me to attend a meet the player event for the Jazz. I must have really liked this guy to stand in line for two hours with him and his parents to not get Andrei Kirilenko's signature. The month of October had come and the Boston Red Sox were in the playoffs. Mark got me a pink Sox hat. I knew my converting to sportsdom was serious and this event marked my official conversion into it. Now I play fantasy sports, fill out March Madness brackets, and attend Owlz, Jazz, and BYU football games.
Even though I have a basic knowledge of sports: how they are played, who players are, who the teams are, etc. I still get sick of it (especially during college football). I think you can have too much sports. Moderation in all things, guys! Come on. There are other things to do in life besides sports. You can go to movies, shopping, travel, out to eat, reading, cooking, spending time with your significant other, and many others. I think if guys are obsessed with sports there is something wrong. I knew when I married someone who is very into sports, I had two choices to make: (1) I could just leave my husband alone with his sports and when he wanted to go to sporting events or watch them I could go do something else or (2) I could join in. I thought option 2 would be easier because it would be something we could do together and it was one of his passions. Plus while Mark and I were dating we attended a few Jazz games and I had a fun time! Since making this decision I have been to Owlz games, lots of Jazz games, Mets game, Yankee game, and lots of BYU football games.
Now I have to decide if this conversion is a good thing or a bad thing. I'll let you know when I make that decision.
BYU Wins Holy War
George, like Collie and Harline before him, is now still open!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Wife's Outburst: My conversion to sportsdom
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3 comments:
I was wondering about where you got that pink boston hat. You were wearing it the first time we met (at Election Party 2004). Please do me a favor and burn it...oh and don't tell your father-in-law about it. Since when is Mark out buying Boston Red Sox stuff? Can't wait for the Mets-Tigers World Series
Rebuttal: You can see the blueprint needed to convert your wife/girlfriend to a sporting obsession. 1) Demonstrate a love for sports. 2) Invite, invite, invite. You can’t get them watching/playing sports unless you invite them to do so. 3) Buy them sports gear. Hats, T-shirts, a Jersey…etc. If girls look cute they will go almost anywhere. 4) When you get them to sporting events open the wallet; get all the overpriced food items they want. Hunger leads to boredom! 5) Explain, explain, explain. Point out the nuances of the game you are watching. Pointing out zone defense, penalties, plays away from the ball, and good coaching decisions. It might seem irrelevant until the happy moment that she will start to pick up these things, and pointing them out to you. 6) Take them to historic places. Yankee stadium is a great example. (I can’t stand the Yankees, but being at that stadium was baseball nirvana) 7)Repeat as necessary, and never force. 8) Enjoy!
Brilliant strategy Mark! In a sense, it is giving the woman what she wants, which is focused attention from you while she learns to appreciate your hobby. Sounds like you've got the 'give and take' part down.
I have to emphasize Ashley's sentiments on moderation though. I don't mind the spouse's hobby so much until it seems to be the only thing that he loves and gives his time to. If I get a ten minute conversation now and then I'm good to go and he can go back to watching the game (baseball season, college football season and Mountain West Conference basketball).
All in all, I'm about moderation. I don't have any one thing, like sports, that I am passionate about other than friends and family. So I have a harder time identifying with someone who dedicates that much time to any one thing, but I try.
I'm gonna keep up with your blog in order to better understand my sports lovin' man.
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