I like basketball. A lot. However, I always have and always will have a certain dislike for sports, moreso than the average American male anyway. This has as much to do with experiences growing up as it does with the typical picture of athletic culture in America we see: a bunch of steroid-pumpers, gang-bangers, uber-macho men who complain about getting paid 15 million instead of 30 million to play a game, with men getting so involved and attached to this environment it affects other areas of their life such as work and family. Seen it before, and will see it again. This kind of fanatic obsession is responsible for too many absent fathers, absent from their families, communities, and churches. And this is exactly why I avoided it for so many years, except for the occasional Super Bowl or Summer Olympics maybe. It doesn't help that I'm not athletically built at all; can't run, jump, shoot, bat, kick, block, hit, or slide. No matter how hard I try, I end up an exhausted, blistering, sweaty, sobbing mess. Sure, with practice and exercise I could do a somewhat decent job. But that doesn't change the fact I've tried telling myself for a long time now.
My step-dad is one of those sports fanatic obsessives; for several years I lived in a very sports-saturated environment, learning (a few, not all) sports concepts, styles of play, terms, teams and histories, etc. All very helpful and crucial information for striking out on your own and succeeding in life. I went to a few basketball games before moving, and played some serious bowling during the high school years. But after moving out on my own, I realized other things are more important, and gradually lost interest, becoming numb to the whole sports world and maybe even being one of the four North American residents who didn't watch the Super Bowl one year. Then I moved to Iowa, got married, started a family, started college, and other things kept piling up to the point where sports just didn't factor in at all. And that was fine with me.
Yet, I just can't help myself. For about a year now, probably more, I've been kind of into it. Not all sports, just some. Pretty much just professional football and basketball, the good ol' NFL and NBA. I find it ironic that those are the sports I latch onto, after complaining above and for years previous about all the over-paid, over-drugged, over-arrogant players and fanatics out there. Regardless, I think it all started with moving out to Iowa and suddenly being surrounded by a family full of angry, beer-drinking, psychologically-unbalanced Pittsburgh Steelers fans. And then they won the Super Bowl, and it was all downhill from there.
But the NFL has not grabbed my attention like the NBA has. Even more gang-bangers and complainers than the NFL, go figure, but I can't explain it. Maybe it's because I used to play some basketball, and by "play" I mean shoot around in the driveway and take a class at the community center (scrimmages were my favorite). Maybe it's because I love the fast-paced energy, the teamwork, the last-second desperation shots, the essential balance between offense and defense. Not that other sports don't have those factors, but it seems basketball requires all of those on another level, all at the same time, by every player on the team at all times in order to win. Maybe it's because I grew up around Portland, OR, home of the Portland Trail Blazers, and also home to some of the most loyal and supportive fans in professional sports.
Now, I've seen how involved someone can become with sports, or just being competitive in general (it really is a guy thing), but I'm going to do as much as possible to prevent that from happening to me, God help me. I don't really like watching football a whole lot, but just enjoy following the season and teams online, and maybe watch some Steelers' games here and there and the Super Bowl event. Following the NBA is pretty similar; it's a lot easier to follow everything online, as it doesn't interrupt family time or stall homework that much. But, I did force my wife to watch a little of a recent Boston Celtics-Cleveland Cavaliers game, and that was quite the experience; that one Lebron James guy is fun to watch. I can definitely see myself watching a lot more NBA on the T.V., especially Blazers' games someday. Especially if they stop getting injured, get their teamwork down, and can start beating teams like the Washington Wizards by more than two points. To sum up, I will say this: I will be very disappointed if I'm living in Iowa without even basic cable and this is the season the Blazers somehow, miraculously make it all the way to the NBA Finals and win it all. Very disappointed.
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