Sports I Watch And Play

Bloganuary writing prompt

What are your favorite sports to watch and play?

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Finally, a prompt that I can sink my teeth into. The sports I watch are baseball, the Pirates which I blog on the Pirates Morning Report, pro football just the Steelers, college football, which is my favorite, and last but not least, golf both the women’s and the men’s tour. I do not watch the old farts tour. I do watch the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, but I do not watch college basketball during the regular season. I watch the baseball and the football playoffs. I do not watch the NHL which I do not even consider a sport and I quit watching pro basketball when fast break basketball was replaced with the triangle offense or whatever it is called. The 80’s with the Celtics and the Lakers was the end of an era and the game became very boring. I used to watch boxing but not anymore. I do not even know the name of the heavyweight champ. That just shows you how times have changed. Back through the 70’s the heavyweight boxing champion was the most revered sports figure in the world. I love college football because of the atmosphere and the enthusiasm of the crowds and the students. I do not even mind all the bowl games, although even I think they should get to a more workable number say around 25 or 30. College football is just much more entertaining than the pro game. There is more running and the defenses in the college game are not quite as good as in the pros so you see more scoring and great offensive plays. It is a much more up tempo game. Seeing a game played before 100,000+ fans is something else. I love baseball because of the skill set that the players have to have. There are very few specialty positions in baseball. You have to run field and hit in order to play that game. The game has the most strategy of any sport. The game has speeded up with the new rule changes that has made baseball a much more entertaining product. I watch all events on the DVR. Speed up those annoying commercials and you don’t have to listen to the even more annoying announcers. Thank God for DVR, it may be man’s greatest invention.

I love to play golf. I played 148 rounds this year which came close to breaking my one-year record of 150. I find it to be the most fascinating game of all. With the exception of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, it seems like every player has succumbed to the power of golf. What I mean by that, is they get to a certain point in the progression of their game or round and then become totally dysfunctional. They cannot perform a shot or putt that they have done literally thousands of times due to the set of circumstances at the present time. I do not care what you call it, choking, nerves, or the yips, it seems to get a hold of every golfer that has played the game. Some players make a recovery from this total incompetence and go on to win the tournament. Other players do not recover during the round and their careers are shortly over. At this time in my life, it is the one thing I would most like to figure out. I have been searching for that answer for over 30 years. I will never give up, but I wouldn’t bet money that I will find that answer. It is the one reason that I do not mind winter. It gives me a little time away from the problem. If I never do figure it out, I still know that I just love playing this mystifying game.