Friday, August 31, 2007

More Reasons Why I Love Sports

28. Starting Line-ups

Starting lineups are great as a player AND a fan. As a player, it gets you totally jazzed to have your name called out loud as you run out onto the court or field and all eyes are on YOU. You feel the crowd's energy and excitement just because they're calling names. As a fan it gets you pumped to see all of your team's players run out onto the field. The best part is when the best player is called last....."At guard, from North Carolina, Number 23, Michaeeeeelllllll Jooooooordan!!!!" In what other capacity do you get that kind of treatment? Could you imagine when you're coming home your wife fires up the microphone and says, "And at the father position, from Northern Arizona University, standing 5'11", Jooooooooosh Hamilllltooooooonnnn!!" A nice touch would be lazers and those smokes machines too.....



29. Colin Cowherd

For those of you who don't know who he is Colin Cowherd is literally the best radio show host in America. Lucky for me he does a syndicated show on ESPN radio every day from 7 am to 10 pm PST. His show is funny, insightful, knowledgable, and entertaining. He helps make my time sitting in front of this computer at work that much less painful. He doesn't just do X's and O's either. He talks about how sports really affect our lives, he makes comparisons, talks about social issues, and he's honest, totally honest. At first, I hated the guy. I think it was his honesty that bugged me and I wasn't used to it. But like any intelligent person I listened, thought about what he said, and eventually I started agreeing with most of the things he commented on. They made sense. He truly is one of the greatest radio hosts ever. You should listen to him. You can start here at http://www.espnradio.com/.


30. Walk-Off Home Runs
Ask any Detroit Tigers fans how it felt when Magglio "my name is strange as hell" Ordonez hit that homer to send them to the World Series? Walk-Off home runs are some of the most dragged out, painful, joyous, and anticipatory events in sports. Seeing the ball sail in the air wondering if it's going to hit the ground, hit the wall, hit the foul pole, or if the outfield is going to make SportCenter just adds to the excitement. It's not like a desperation three pointer from half court in basketball to where you KNOW it won't go in. It's not like a 25 yard field goal where you KNOW it WILL go in. And it's not like hockey where you KNOW you won't give a damn what happens. I've been fortunate to see a walk-off home run by Erubiel Durazo when he was with the Diamondbacks in 2002 and in what seemed like a lifetime he ended the Blue Jays hopes of coming back. Game over. Get off the field. Winning team celebrate. Losing team try not to trip on the way to the clubhouse.

31. SEC Football
Let me be frank. I've got my issues with the southeastern United States. I've never been there, but I've read a history book or two and it seems like the South just has things ass backwards. Blacks and whites still are separated from one another largely. They're the poorest region in the country. They're the least educated. They talk very distinctively. There's a stereotype that they're dumb. And let's not forget that whole slavery thing. However, if it's one conference that I'll watch right next to the Pac-10 (Go Sun Devils!) it's the SEC. The fans LIVE for college football. A fellow blogger (LeftLeaningLady) is a huge Gators fan and you can just tell it runs through her veins. This isn't uncommon. There's no pro teams that can compete and there's no rival football conferences. Each team in the conference is a rival. Every other team in the NCAA is just an obstacle. It's amazing to see that EVERY TEAM in the SEC is a rival of the other. Some teams are hated more than others, but even LSU vs. Missi-crappy State brings out the entire region!

2 comments:

LeftLeaningLady said...

Awwwww, I am touched, thank you!

DSD (my fiance') and I are constantly finding trivia questions to ask at our local watering hole and I was the only one (and only female participating) who knew what a TD was worth in the very beginning of football and who could name 3 out of the 4 NCAA stadiums that can hold over 100,000. I am pretty sure the term fanatic was written for me.

And thanks for the link to ESPNRadio. If I can listen to ESPN at work, I will enjoy my job a lot more!

LeftLeaningLady said...

BUT, just because Southerners speak differently does not mean they are bad or stupid. The people in the NE speak with a completely different dialect than the rest of the country. And every region has its strange words and comments.

PLUS, most of the founding fathers were southern slave owners and they were pretty good guys (for their time!)