‘Super Sunday’ vs. ‘Brokeback Mountain’

Apparently I’m not a true sports fan because I don’t like football. That’s right—I’m dropping the “I hate football” bomb.
Frankly, I would rather chew on broken glass than watch a football game.
In fact, I went to see “Brokeback Mountain” on “Super Sunday” instead of watching the “big game.” The only way I would have sat through it was if somebody was to offer me free beer and an unlimited supply of various cheese dips.
Often people can’t believe it when I tell them I actually enjoy watching six hours of golf on TV. In the summer, Sunday was my golf day. The phone got turned off, feet went up, and there may have been chips and dip involved.
I mean, I even like watching golf more than I like shopping (wait a minute—did I just write that?)
But really, never have I had the urge to kick back and watch the Steelers. It’s more than likely my own fault. I’ve never taken an interest in it and certainly haven’t put forth any sort of effort to really understand the game.
Which brings me to another point. I didn’t like golf until the first time I played it. I didn’t understand the game and thought my dad was crazy when he would watch countless hours of golf on the tube.
But now, I have a small—okay, large—obsession with the game.
I think a lot of the reason we love the sports we do has to do with the environment we grow up in. I love all the sports that my brothers, dad, and, of course, I played. Football was never a big deal in my family.
I fully understand that my role as a sports reporter is to know a little bit about every sport. But that doesn’t mean I like every sport—and it doesn’t mean I should like every sport.
I was at a journalism conference in Edmonton late last month and had the opportunity to meet the sports reporter from the Edmonton Journal, Dan Barnes.
He remarked that the first time he covered figure skating, it was a crippling experience. He admitted he didn’t know much about it—and found it quite boring.
So when people claim I’m not a true sports fan simply because I don’t like football, that would be like me saying Don Cherry isn’t a sports fan because he doesn’t like cricket.
The way I see it, I have no choice but to learn about the game because I will be covering the Muskies this coming fall. Now I just have to find someone patient enough to sit down and explain it to me (be warned, it could take days).
Anyone have any broken glass?