Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Baseball and why I'll always love it


The first sport I ever played as a child was baseball. The above picture, though I don't technically remember it, is one of my favorite childhood memories.

I'm even thinking back to figure out if my first memory of watching sports is of baseball or football. I'm pretty certain it's baseball. I think some of my first memories of ANYTHING are actually of baseball as well.

I don't know why my dad did it, but he made sure from a very early age that my brother and I were involved in sports, both playing them and watching them. Whatever he did worked because I'm now 20 years old and never fill out my March Madness bracket without talking to him first; we have hour long conversations about the latest NFC North division scores; every year for my birthday I get a new Wisconsin Badgers sports t-shirt. And though it's not a sport in a typical way, we go fishing together and love it. (I still have never taken a fish off a hook.)

Each season I make sure I have a sport to take up my time. Spring is full of college basketball and the beginnings of baseball. Summer is all baseball all the time with a little tennis thrown in, and soccer depending if it's World Cup time; though much soccer is played all year round so I always have that. Fall is some more baseball, college football, and the beginnings of the NFL. Winter is all NFL and then college basketball. There's always a few that keep my attention. I don't know what it is about sports that keeps me so entranced while so many people see them as trivial and even moronic. What makes them so interesting to me? I don't honestly know. I just know that I am.

I call baseball my first love. From my 6th birthday to my 16th, I wished for tickets to the World Series. I don't know why I stopped. I recently decided that it's now my life goal to see every single MLB team play in their home stadium. I've got one down. So many people say baseball is the most boring sport. Yeah, I get that there are a lot of lulls in the game. Sometimes runs aren't scored for hours at a time. That's what makes baseball such an experience. Baseball games aren't so much about the game itself as they are about you experiencing it with those around you. I'll admit, watching baseball on TV can be difficult at times but even at its worst, with no action, somehow I still find it exciting. Then again, I'm the kind of person that wants to understand every aspect of the game. I want to know the history of teams, players, rules, stadiums, everything. All of it fascinates me.

It doesn't hurt that I live in a state with an exceptional team, either. The Brewers haven't always been as good as they currently are, but fans in Wisconsin are fiercely loyal, no matter how the team fares each season. They have, however, been on the brink of being something great in the past few years. The division is so very up for grabs, season after season, and it seems that this is the one. The Crew managed to nab the wild card spot a few years back but since then they've stopped short. This year is different. The Brewers, if I'm not mistaken, have THE BEST home record in all of baseball, having lost only 15 games at home the entire season thus far. This is incredible, seeing how there have been 56 games played so far at Miller Park. Out of 56 games at home, only 15 have been losses. THIS IS A BIG DEAL. Their record on the road is a different story but things have been looking up on even that front.

Are you starting to get a feel for how much baseball means to me? Now, I will do this sort of thing w/ other sports, get this excited and in depth and all around intense. Baseball is different though. There's just something about it.

Last YouTube video I watched: Living In A Van - Kansaaaaaaa

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