Friday Five for October 10, 2003

Okay kids … my last Friday Five with this noggin’ … decent questions, but I’m not going to be giving them the attention they deserve. Oh well. 🙂

1. Do you watch sports? If so, which ones?

Okay … first things first. There are only four sports known to mankind. Baseball, Amercan Football, Basketball and Hockey. That’s it … that’s all. Auto Racing? No. Soccer? Nada. Golf? Notachance. Bowling? Hah. Track and field? Sorry. I understand, it’s bound to offend some people. But that’s it. There’s nothing I can do about it. There are just four sports. All those other things … and they are numerous … merely activities. Some are just hobbies. But there’s nothing wrong with being an activity or a hobby.

Here are the rules for whether or not something is a sport …

First, it must rely on your athletic ability primarily … that rules out the auto racing and horse racing.

Second, it cannot be something one can drink alcohol while doing and actually get better at doing as a result … that rules out bowling, fishing, and golf.

Third, it must be financially self sufficient through attendance or television contracts … that rules out auto racing again.

Fourth, it must have a national U.S. television contract … that rules out soccer.

Fifth, it must be something I like.

That being said … I watch all flavors of American football. I love it. It’s my favorite. I watch it in person and I watch in on television. I watch people playing in the park, I watch professional football, college football, high school football, Arena football … you name it, I watch it.

I watch college basketball and the finals of the NBA.

Personally, I hate hockey. I think it’s stupid, the rules are idiotic and following the puck is just not easy, I don’t care what you say. Honestly, the only reason I list it now as a sport is mainly to just shut Shaft up. He loves it. That’s all he talks about. 90% of what he says involves hockey. And my life got a great deal easier when I stopped maintaining it was just a hobby. I still think it sucks though. Of course, hockey fans are so …. fanatical … they are all over my butt when I say that.

Baseball. My first sporting love. 🙂 I used to consume baseball. It was a passion to me. I watched it, listened to it on the radio, attended games in person. Played multiple fantasy leagues. It was THE SPORT for me until the last Major League Baseball strike. At which point … I left the game. And haven’t returned. I stopped season tickets, I stopped watching on television, I stopped following period. Now granted, I’ll still watch some games and this year’s playoffs have captured my attention, but … I hold grudges a really, really long time … and I’m not ready to return.

Let’s see … soccer might be the next to make it to my definition of a sport. I’m aware of its world wide popularity, but here’s my problem with it … it’s just hockey without ice and is less violent. Come on people … we’re humans … we’ve got legs AND arms … feet AND hands … use the hands and arms for gawd’s sake !! Anyways … it has no interest to me … and I doubt it’ll get a national television contract in the United States anytime soon … but who knows.

In the meantime, hockey is going bankrupt … meaning it might not be self sufficient and could lose its Sport designation that way and its ratings are still light, so it might also lose its national television contract. Baseball on the other hand … has ratings that are pathetic … it too might lose its national television contract. So it is possible that we could be down to just two sports someday.

And just for the record … I love golf. I watch it every chance I get … but it’s not a sport, merely an activity at the professional level, and a hobby at my level.

2. What/who are your favorite sports teams and/or favorite athletes?

Hail! to the Victors valiant
Hail! to the conquering heros
Hail! Hail! To Michigan
The leaders and Best …
Hail! to the Victors valiant
Hail! to the conquering heros
Hail! Hail! To Michigan
The Champions of the west!

College Football … University of Michigan Wolverines (Interesting observation … we suck this year, but what do you expect … our quarterback is one of the most hated characters from the Star Wars series … yes … our quarterback is Jar Jar Navarre … seriously … if you saw him run … you’d go … Gwezzuz, meesa thinks she’s right !!

Professional Football … Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions

I adore Tiger Woods. And you can be an athlete even though you don’t play a sport. So he’s on my list. As far as others … no one serious or long term. Most of my infactuations with athletes are just short term romances … I only use them while they are contributing to my team’s success. 🙂

3. Are there any sports you hate?

Yes. Hockey. I hate it. And though it’s not a sport, only a hobby for rich men … I totally hate auto racing … nascar pisses me off.

4. Have you ever been to a sports event?

Yes. Lots of them. Baseball, football, basketball and hockey. I still go to all of them on occasion.

5. Do/did you play any sports (in school or other)? How long did you play?

I played one year of football in school … that was plenty for me and my body frame. I played basketball until 9th grade. I played baseball all the way through, continuing with intermurals in college. I followed by playing softball until three years ago. I used to play pick up basketball until about 10 years ago. And though they aren’t sports, I still golf and bowl. 🙂