Hail to the Redskins

Image via WikipediaA few weeks ago, I entered my name into a raffle for Redskins tickets at my office.  My company either has, or was given, season tickets.  They gave away a set of four club level seats and a parking pass for each game of the season.  I was fortunate enough to win the set of tickets for today's Redskins/Cardinals game, which the Redskins won 22-21.

Sports have always been an important part of our family life.  My wife and I had our first date on opening day of the Baltimore Orioles season 20 years ago.  Since our son is away at school, and we had two extra tickets, we invited my brother in law and nephew to go with us since our nephew is also a huge sports fan.  I don't think that he had ever been to a Redskins game so it was a big deal for him. 

To be honest, we have sort of soured on attending professional sporting events.  We much prefer the atmosphere of minor league and collegiate events.  I think part of it is the fanaticism that is often on display at professional level.  A lot of it probably has to do with the amount of alcohol consumed by the fans in the stands.  Sure there is alcohol served in minor league parks, but the atmosphere is such that people rarely get out of hand.  It could also be that with the much higher cost of a ticket at professional games that the fans feel a little more entitled to fanatical behavior.

Maybe fanatical behavior is the wrong choice of words to use.  After all, the word fan is simply a shortened form of the word fanatic.  I guess what I probably should say is that at pro games people are more prone to what I consider obnoxious behavior.  I am not talking about just simply being loud and screaming at appropriate times during the game.  Nor an I talking about folks wearing the team colors in support of their favorite team, though I may have to draw the line at face paint, especially on fat, middle age men. 

All too often at the professional games, there seems to be an increased amount of foul or abusive language.  Or there is the example of the type of person who was sitting a few rows in front of us.  While just about everybody else in the stands would sit and watch the game, cheering loudly or standing during a big play, this guy felt the need to direct the crowd.  Before every play he would stand up and wave his arms and turn to his fellow fans exhorting them to get louder.

I don't know, maybe I am just continuing to get more cranky as I get older, but the guy just looked foolish to me.  OK, not as foolish at the guys that were wearing the burgundy and gold face paint, or the person wearing a Tigger costume.  The other thing that happened today that had not happened before, and I think is an indictment on where we are as a society, is that every fan was patted down upon entering the stadium.  The NFL claims it was not in response to an idiot Cowboys fan (I know idiot and Cowboy fan is redundant) sneaking in a stun gun in to the Jets/Cowboys game last week, but you have to wonder.

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Sports, Politics, and Unruly Fans

I am a huge sports fan.  In recent years, I have become more and more interested in politics.  I don't particularly care for it when those two worlds collide.  In fact, I hate it.  A case in point would be last weekend when folks protested outside of the Washington Nationals game.  The reason for the protest?  The Nationals were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks and people were protesting against Arizona's illegal immigration enforcement law and next year's baseball All-Star game being played in Arizona.

In my opinion, sports should be apolitical.  They should be a welcome and joyful respite from the everyday concerns of the world.  They should not become a vehicle for one's political agenda. Nothing turned me off more than when the Phoenix Suns started wearing "Los Suns" jerseys to protest SB 1070.  About the only time sports and politics should intertwine is during the Olympics, and then only to root for one's own country.  While I disagree with those who oppose the bill, and understand and support their right to protest, please leave my sports out of it.

There was another bit of action in regards to the protest at the Nationals/Diamondbacks game last weekend.  In addition to the protest outside the game, two idiots decided to run out onto the field with a banner to protest the law.  Rather than comment about what I think should happen to morons like that, I decided to show you a few examples I found on YouTube.

First there is this classic from Baltimore Colts linebacker Mike Curtis.  It doesn't get much better than this.



Here is another nice one from the world of football from Pittsburgh Steeler James Harrison.


While I sometimes think that police can be too quick to use tasers, this member of Philly's finest gives this fan what he deserves.

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LeBron James Decision Day

Image via Wikipedia

I have always been a huge sports fan.  At times, so much so to the detriment of other interests.  Over he last few years, my interest has waned somewhat.  Even though my overall interest has waned, I still somewhat follow the general happenings of the major sports.  So I have been aware that LeBron James has been weighing his options as an NBA free agent.

There is no doubt that James is one of the most talented players in the game.  He will definitely receive the maximum offer allowed from whichever team he decides to sign a contract with.  I do not begrudge anybody for getting the maximum amount of money for utilizing their talents.  I confess that when you start talking about the kind of money he is going to get, that I do get a little sentimental and like to see players show a little loyalty and take a little less to stay with their home town team.  In this particular case, his current team can offer more by giving him an extra year on the contract.

As I said, LeBron is a tremendous talent, and probably the most high profile free agent to hit the market in any sport in recent years.  So I do understand the hype surrounding his decision.  The part of the hype that I do not understand is the decision of ESPN to broadcast a one hour television special devoted to the announcement of where James will play next year.  I for one will not be watching the show, and I speak as somebody who has sat through several rounds of watching the NFL draft.  I will just catch it on the news if they don't put a crawl on whatever show I end up watching.  

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World Cup 2010

Image by mikkelz via Flickr

Have you heard?  The World Cup started yesterday.  Supposedly it is a big deal, but I couldn't care less.  In fact, I already wish it were over.  For the last week or so leading up to the "big event" I have seen a lot of hype about the World Cup on the news.

To paraphrase the first George Bush and his "I do not like broccoli," I proudly and unabashedly proclaim that I do not like soccer.  Sure, I have heard all the arguments.  You don't like it because you don't understand it.  Hogwash!  But it is the most popular sport in the world.  So what!

Apparently, I am not the only one that feels this way.  A recent Zogby poll showed that 63% of American men said that soccer would never be as popular as football, baseball, basketball, or hockey in the USA.  Overall, 54% of all Americans felt that way.  Only 24% of us plan to watch any of the World Cup at all.   

In my mind, I can only think of a handful of reasons to kick a ball during a sporting event; kicking a field goal or extra point, punting, or playing a rousing game of kickball.  About the only good thing to come out of soccer is the soccer style field goal kicker in football.  Although, I have to admit, I miss the good old straight on kickers like Mark Mosely.

As I said, even though the World Cup has just started, I already wish it were over.  For the next month, the news media will be bombarding us with how great the sport is.  Sportscasters will be giving us scores like 1 to nil instead of the usual 1 to nothing or 1 to zero.  Or they will talk about the pitch instead of the field.  Thank goodness the World Cup only comes around every four years.

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Gentleman, Start Your Engines

I know sports fans are getting all geared up for the Super Bowl, and rightfully so.  It should be a good one.  I don't really care too much about who wins, though I am kind of pulling for the Saints to win.  There is just something about Peyton Manning that bugs me.  Maybe because you can't watch a game without seeing him in every other commercial.

Yes, the Super Bowl is a big deal, but I am also looking forward to the start of the NASCAR racing season which kicks off Saturday night with the Bud Shootout. Sure it isn't the official start of the racing season, which starts next week with the Daytona 500, but it is fun to watch.


Over the last couple of years, a lot of NASCAR fans have complained that the sport has become too corporate and too boring.  Officials have announced that they are going to relax some of the rules regarding aggressive driving and bump drafting.  They are also encouraging drivers to show a little more emotion and less corporate plugging.

Hopefully it will make for a more exciting brand of racing.  A lot of the races I watched last year were pretty BORING.  Today was the first day of practice for the Shootout on Saturday night.  If the first practice is any indication, it could be an interesting year.  Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin set off a 6-car accident about halfway through the first practice.  In the second practice, Juan Pablo Montoya wrecked Kurt Busch.  As Darryl Waltrip will say when the green flag drops, "Boogity, boogity, boogity.  Let's go racing boys!"

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