Why do I love sports?

Recently my fiancé described me as being obsessed with sports. I took a little offense to that at first, simply because it had a bit of a negative connotation to me. I don't think of myself as being obsessed with sports, but I do wholeheartedly love my sports teams; The Texas Rangers, The Dallas Cowboys, The San Antonio Spurs, and my Fightin' Texas Aggies!

But WHY do I love sports so much? Sports is something that I grew up with and around. My dad was a great athlete. When I say he was a great athlete, I don't just mean that in the way that every little kid thinks that their dad is the greatest. I mean that my dad was great at whatever he did athletically. I remember older relatives and family friends always talking about how incredible my dad was at playing baseball and football. Unfortunately, none of that great athleticism rubbed off on me. But, the LOVE of sports did.

Growing up, my dad was always playing sports. However, I'll always think of my dad as a great baseball player. My dad came so close to playing professional baseball, if circumstances hadn't altered his life path. I remember years ago watching my dad play baseball. He was in his 50s, playing ball with kids (some even younger than I was at the time), and he was still great. I watched my dad play ball, and I was in awe at how effortlessly he made the game look. And this was a man that was in his 50s! I'll never forget watching my dad drag bunt, perfectly, and getting on base. At that very moment, I truly realized just HOW GREAT of a baseball player my dad was, and had been in his prime and I appreciated his ability even more.

Growing up and into early adulthood, my father and I didn't have the best of relationships. We didn't have a bad relationship, but it wasn't what I would call a close one either. But, we always had sports. THAT was our bond. I always felt bad for my father that I wasn't a great athlete, as though somehow I had let him down because of it. But, that didn't change the fact that I still loved sports. Some of my fondest memories that I have as a child, revolve around some sort of sporting event.

As a teen and young adult, even when my dad and I seemed to have little in common, we ALWAYS had sports to talk about. Baseball games, the latest Cowboys game, the Spurs game; these were the things that always kept us talking.

I’m not sure if my grandfather passed it on to him, but I do remember sitting down and listening to my grandfather tell me baseball stories every now and then. My father, by virtue of him being such a great athlete, passed on his love of sports to me. I hope to pass on my love of sports to my boys. My two oldest sons aren’t very big into sports. I’ve tried to pass on my love of sports to them, but with marginal success. They’ll watch the occasional Rangers or Cowboys game with me, but they aren’t die-hards like I am. I have two more shots with our 9 and 5 yr olds; both of which love to sit and watch Rangers games with me. So maybe there’s still hope there.

Why do I love sports so much? Because sports is the bond that I have with my father and my grandfather, and hopefully the bond that I will form with my sons and their sons and so on, so that we will always be connected, from past generations to generations to come.