You win some, you lose some…

One of my original blogging inspirations was my son. He’s been doing it a good deal longer than I have, although by no means as regularly, and he blogs in a niche that I’m not particularly interested in. In fact, his sports blog is the only one in that niche that I read, and although I think – objectively, I swear! – that he writes it very well, I wouldn’t read it if it wasn’t his. But I like his writing, I like that he expresses himself well, and I like that he’s blogging on a topic that truly interests him – all of those things are what I find inspiring.

I’m not much of a sports fan, except for baseball, which is the game my sister and I were raised on and the only sport I really enjoy watching and mostly understand. (Some people think it’s too slow, but I like that; it’s what helps me follow what’s going on.) I think that disappoints my dad, who was always a dedicated spectator, but he’s probably more disappointed that in two successive generations, his line hasn’t produced another Yankees fan. (I’m now married to a lifelong Dodgers fan, and since that’s my hometown team now, I’m coming around.) However, if my lack of sports-fandom is a disappointment, Chris has more than made up for it. And he’s the best kind of fan – a knowledgeable one, with informed opinions and the ability to be honest, even about the shortcomings of his favorite teams.

My son will watch nearly anything ESPN will broadcast, but his main loves are college football and basketball (he did graduate from an SEC school, after all – Go Vols!), with a more recent devotion to hockey. But his lifelong passion has been the family tradition, baseball. I think he was four when he got his first baseball glove. He was subscribing to Baseball Weekly when he was nine. He took the name of his blog from a section at AutoZone Park, the ballpark of our old hometown Triple-A team, the Memphis Redbirds. And he’s now living in the new home city of his all-time favorite baseball team, and he’s making the most of it.

Chris was ten years old the year of the baseball-players strike, and he had been closely following the fortunes of the Montreal Expos all season (definitely from a distance, as we lived pretty well across the continent from Montreal at the time). He has been convinced ever since then that if the season hadn’t been disrupted, the Expos could have gone all! the! way!, and regardless of the fact they’ve never been that good again in the 13 years following, they’ve remained his team. However, they have not remained the Montreal Expos. They’ve been the Washington Nationals for a couple of years now, and they’re probably the #2 reason he moved to D.C. this past spring after he graduated from college (at least, I hope they ranked lower than his girlfriend, who was already living there). He made it to as many games as he could this past season, and I’m sure he’ll do the same next year, even though the ticket prices at their new ballpark will be quite a bit higher. Perhaps he’ll run into fellow DC resident and blogger Madame Meow, although she’s a bit distressed about how much more it will cost to watch the Nats lose in 2008.

That, to me, is one of the things that’s inspiring about the dedicated, knowledgeable sports fan – being willing to pay to watch your team lose. (And apparently Nats fans have pretty strong faith that losing is what they’ll be seeing.) In my observation, that is not a description that applies to all sports fans, but it might be nice if it did, and if I ever did become a serious fan, I hope that’s the kind I’d be. But even if I’m not, I’m pleased to have one in my family. I hope we’ll get a chance to watch the Dodgers lose – but would be much happier to see them win! – next season. And I know Chris will be at the ballpark, watching his Nats lose – and blogging about it – as often as he can.

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3 comments

  1. I love going to baseball games. We don’t do it too often though. I’m a casual fan, meaning I don’t really follow the sport and couldn’t tell you who was up in games until near the end and sometimes I don’t even really know which team I am rooting for when I go to a game. Still, I sit in rapt attention, watching the game, wishing I could have season tickets.

    On a side note, like you with your son’s blog, I read my husband’s even though I don’t always quite understand what he is talking about. 🙂

  2. Literary Feline – I actually prefer going to minor-league ball games. Memphis has an awesome Triple-A ballpark, and I got spoiled there. 🙂 Dodger Stadium is just too big…but hopefully we’ll get to a game there next season anyway.

    I admit, there are times I just skim my son’s blog posts looking for the snarky bits.

  3. We enjoy going to the minor league games too. 🙂 We don’t have s minor league team in town, but there are two in neighboring towns so it isn’t too bad.

    Once when on a work assignment that took me out of town to a city (and state) I’d never been, I spent the evening at a minor league game. It was a spur of the moment decision made by my travel companion and I, but it was a lot of fun. 🙂