Sunday, October 21, 2012

#790 I love sports!

This is my favorite time of year for sports. College and professional football are going strong, the baseball playoffs are getting down to the World Series and the NBA pre-season is happening. It's fun for a sports-loving gal like me!

The only college football I watch is the Utah Utes. That is my adopted team. The college I went to is not Division I, so you can't watch them on TV. I don't know if I would anyway. The Utes aren't doing so well this year, though. They have only won two games - although one win was against in-state rival BYU, so that was a good win. In the second year in the PAC-12 conference, the Utes have yet to win a game. To be honest, by the second half, they are not usually in the game anyway. The Utes have a freshman quarterback and a new offensive coordinator, so I think there are some growing pains there. It's disappointing, but I watch anyway.


I will usually watch just about any pro football game that is on when I'm just sitting around, but my favorite teams is the San Francisco 49ers. My dad was a 9er fan when I was a kid, and I still like them. The 49er quarterback was the number one draft pick, Alex Smith, and he played at Utah. I started watching most of the Ute games when Alex Smith played here, so it's been interesting to watch his career in college and the pros. He's doing a great job this year!

Baseball is wonderful. Many people will say it's too slow or takes too long or isn't exciting, but I disagree with that. I like the symmetry of the games - the box scores, the straight lines, nine players, three outs, (three is my favorite number; it's a magic number!), the hit and run, the home run, the base hit - it's all good!  I first fell in love with baseball in 1995, the year that Cal Ripken Jr broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played record AND the year that the Atlanta Braves won the World Series! I was a Braves fan because they were always on WTBS, so even though Atlanta was far away from Idaho, I felt like I knew everyone on the team and they were MY team. Now WTBS doesn't show Braves' games exclusively, so I follow the Colorado Rockies, then they are more in our region. I also like the San Diego Padres because I have been to many Padres games since Lizzie lives in San Diego. For a few years, before I became a mom, I used to enjoy my baseball pilgrimage to San Diego. Haven't done that for awhile. I think they only major league ballpark in California that I haven't been to is in Oakland. This year I am rooting for the San Francisco Giants to beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series. If the Giants win tomorrow night, they will play the Detroit Tigers in the World Series! I like the Giants because there are a few degrees of separation from me to the team. My sister is friends with the third base coach there, so I feel related to the team through that connection. :)

And finally, there is NBA basketball. I am a life-long Utah Jazz fan. One of my very most favorite things about living in Salt Lake is that there is a professional basketball team here. I loved the Stockton and Malone era, and I have stayed true to the team even through their re-building time and the turmoil time from a couple of years ago when Coach Sloan left and the team sort of fell apart. I am happy to watch the games from my home, but I really love to be able to go to the arena and watch the games in person. I feel completely lucky when I am able to get tickets through my work to watch the game from the suite. It is so enjoyable! When I get to take my family, I feel even more special and truly happy. Last night we were able to go to the game. It was a pre-season game against the LA Clippers. We all wanted to watch the Clippers because we like Blake Griffin. We've tried several times to watch him in action, but he has been injured. I don't know if he was injured last night, but he didn't play. He was there and he was dressed in the warm-up suit, but he never got on the court. We were disappointed, but the Jazz did win, so we were pleased about that! To make it all extra fluffy and great, I was able to get a couple of extra tickets so T could bring two friends. It was fun to watch him with his pals. Thanks Granite! :)


No comments: