Allow Me to Introduce Myself

So, as my kickoff to the reincarnation of YGLS, I wanted to introduce myself the only way I know how: by talking about sports. This is a column that I wrote for the old incarnation, edited to reflect a more timely nature (for example, I talk about attending the 2006 World Cup - oops!). Enjoy!


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There are many people in this world who can be classified as casual sports fans. You know the type; they will tune in to watch the local team play every once in awhile on an NFL Sunday afternoon, head out to the ballpark when there is a business function at the game, and maybe make a couple of snide comments when the next NBA baller is invariably incarcerated for some type of domestic disturbance. These people do not live and die by each and every shot, pass, or pitch. They watch the game, and continue their lives as if nothing has happened.

I can thank the good Lord above that I am not one of those types of people.

I fall into that other class of people. You know this type as well; I cry when my team is eliminated yet again in the AFC Championship game, I will always believe that “this is the year” for the Pirates, and I will turn on a game between UTEP and Pacific and pick a team to root for, only to be let down when the team loses a tough game on the road. I have to tell you, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I think it is correct to call my love for sports an affair. We have had a passionate courtship that began at the ripe old age of five for me. The only difference between sports and girls? I never once, for any reason, believed that sports had “cooties”. Think about it: you fall madly in love, only to at various points be let down. I guess another difference would be that a girl can (hopefully) cook; although a huge bucket of wings at a sporting event surely passes for a nutritious dinner.

There are two events early in my life that sealed just how big of a sports fan I would become. The first occurred in April 1987, when I attended a Phillies-Pirates matchup at Three Rivers Stadium. I went to this, the first sporting event I can remember, with my father Jon and my grandfather Frank, each of whom had a huge impact on my life, sports-wise and otherwise. I do not remember much from the game, except for this: as we arrived home after leaving the game early, my mother informed us that Mike Schmidt had hit his 500th career home run…right into the right field seats that we had vacated moments earlier (I also oddly remember going home that day, turning on the huge stereo/record player we had, and hearing the song "We Built This City"...weird memory).

The second moment in my nascent sports life occurred at a Philadelphia 76ers game when I was in first grade. My aunt had bought us incredible seats, courtside, about six rows back. This posed a problem for me, though, since I was probably about four feet tall; I could barely see. I would creep out into the aisle to watch the action with my wide eyes and a huge smile on my face. At one point, the Sixers’ star forward, Charles Barkley, got the ball in the post and put up a shot while being fouled. The force of the violation threw him to the ground, and he watched in anticipation as the ball hung on the rim for what seemed to be decades. When the ball fell ominously to the floor, Sir Charles started banging the court with his fists in frustration. At the same time, my heart fell as I watched from the aisle. What would occur next would change the way I viewed life forever. As Barkley prepared to get up, he noticed me standing disappointedly in the aisle. He looked over at me, then winked and smiled. I immediately told my dad that Charles had replaced Michael Jordan as my “new favorite player”.

These early events in my life propelled me to be the person I am now, which is to say a person who puts sports at the very top of his life’s priorities. This has manifested itself into a number of wonderful opportunities to attend sporting events in my twenty-four years on good ‘ole terra firma. Here is a list of the sweet sporting events attended so far in my life: two games in an NLCS, the 1994 MLB All-Star game, the 1994 and 2007 U.S. Opens at Oakmont, the Big East basketball championship numerous times, Steve McNair’s last record-breaking collegiate game at Alcorn State, the Belmont Stakes when a triple crown was on the line, two U.S. World Cup qualifying matches, the 2005 Orange Bowl National Championship, the 2006 Oragne Bowl Classic between Penn State and Florida State (3 OTs), and a few AFC Championship games, including a win in January 2009. The resume also includes countless baseball games at stadiums from Detroit to the Big Apple, many Steeler games, a handful of Penguin matches, college football games in some of the best SEC stadia including Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina, and enough Pitt basketball and football to satisfy most for a lifetime. Events coming soon that I will hopefully attend include the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and anything else that would enhance my resume as a sports addict.

I once had a flirtation with making sports my career. I had an internship with an NFL franchise during training camp, then worked as a graduate assistant with the football team at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. However, there was one thing that I could never reconcile, and that was the fact that working for a sports franchise would almost assuredly mean a drop in my passion for sports in general. I am sure I could have still been a fan, but it could not have been my life’s priority, and that’s the way I want it.

I guess that there is a point to my story. People have diseases, many which are life-threatening. When this happens, the outpouring of support is both wonderful and indispensable. Therefore, the next time that you hear of a sports fan crying over a painful loss or celebrating a bit too much after an exhilarating win, remember that diseases are contracted, not willfully invited into one’s life. Give that fan a break; it could very well be me.