I am a sports fan. But, apparently, most Americans are also. I watched on TV the NCAA college basketball tournament each day as the field of 64 was narrowed down to the “Final Four” and then the championship game on Monday night, April 6th when the University of North Carolina “Tar Heels” defeated the “Spartans” of Michigan State. Present at this game were about 73,000 fans. That’s more than the population of a great many cities in the U.S. It is more than three times the population of the city I moved from in Arizona, and I thought that place was getting crowded.
My love affair with sports began when I was in grade school and played soccer and soft ball. I was small and fast and found I could compete in those sports as well as track events. Then I began to see the great prize fights of the day when title fights were shown on screen during the Saturday movie matinees. Does anyone still remember the double feature movies, the cartoons, and the Flash Gordon spaceman weekly chapters offered each Saturday for the price of one dime? I listened to radio broadcasts of boxing matches from the early Joe Louis contests until the present. I also attended wrestling matches from the age of 7 on Monday nights at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento. It took awhile for me to realize that these were actually just exhibitions of athleticism.
My sports interests grew and eventually included most categories. With the advent of television I was able to watch pro football and basketball games; the college teams competing in all sports and became a devoted fan of soccer (called football in the rest of the world) and the teams in Britain’s Premier League and the leagues in Germany, France and Spain. Sports events put life on the big stage, providing (as TV has often put it) the triumph of victory and the tragedy of defeat. We can follow and become emotionally attached to the teams or individuals that compete. As in the basketball tournament mentioned above, I became a fan and follower of the teams from North Carolina and Duke Universities many years ago. Perhaps because I was an extension student of No. Carolina and had a friend who graduated from Duke. I remember sending a “Tar Heel” team cap to my daughter once who thought it was “cool.”
Crowds of 75,000 to 90,000 plus are not unusual in attendance at college football games. Major league baseball attracts 30,000 and up for games that are played almost daily. The big events such as the Kentucky Derby ( I attended in 1943), the Masters golf tournament, the Super Bowl, pro-basketball championship, NASCAR championship, the Indy 500, and other title events are always sold out. Pay-for-Vue now rakes in millions for title boxing matches, the martial arts competitions, and selected premium events. Yes, there is a sports mania across America. Maybe not everyone is so involved but I am
Just Sayin’
I'm not...but I love the behind the scenes trivia. About the players...or even that water pressure goes down during commercial breaks of BIG games...I find that funny.
ReplyDeleteLOL, I forgot about the water pressure. Have you ever seen the "Fan-atical" fans at Oakland Raider football games on TV? Scary.
ReplyDeleteAAAAAAAACKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou left out the King of Sports: HOCKEY!!!!!!!
...ask any Sidney Crosby fan, it really is...
Great write-up~
Speaking of the Raiders: my professor had a Raiders jersey on the other day! Just like Steelers' fans, they're scattered all across the country.
ReplyDeleteOh -- going on the hockey theme again, here's an interesting statistic: last year at the Phoenix vs Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game (played in Phoenix, Arizona), their arena was FULL -- sold out -- every seat filled, guess why? So many Penguins fans in Arizona, they came to cheer on "Sid the Kid and Company"! Other games there at their home arena, not sold-out.
*lol*
True!!
The coach of the Phoenix hockey team is The Great Wayne Gretzky, and he even said he's keeping a close eye on The Kid (Sidney Crosby, who, at his tender age of 21, is the youngest team captain in NHL history).
A subconcious blackout! One can't really enjoy hockey on TV. Too fast. Besides, I can watch fistfights in the ring. I do like hockey when I can be there.
ReplyDeleteNow the fans you mention portray 'real fans.' The word comes from fanatic. I used to see Gretsky play on TV. The first hockey game I see for real was in L.A. And, I am dating myself when I say that the goalies did not wear masks then - - - Whoa!
ReplyDeleteoh I can verify the fact that hockey fans are TRUE fanatics, in every sense of the word... Wayne really did earn his nickname "The Great", but Sidney is wondrous to behold~
ReplyDeleteI know it goes fast on tv, but in person, it goes just as fast! *laughing* Only on tv, you can watch a slow-mo rerun of whatever they're grilling the refs about.
About the masks the goalies didn't wear: they are trying to keep as many of their players alive now, and masks are one way to do that~ hehe - the masks now are reallllllly going great guns in the safety area: they even get to decorate them! Except when a favorite team player is attacked by some idiot on the opposing team, all masks come off, and the idiot gets a round of pummeling.
True. Oh, and then all the fighters (I mean 'players') get a time-out on the bench, but they all knew that when they clear the bench to go attack in unison~
yeah. I miss watching hockey -- in a few months, I'll have the proper cable tv channel, then no more missing the games! (Penguins clinched a spot in the playoffs, by the way!!!)