Today’s Bloganuary prompt: “What are your favorite sports to watch and play?”
Here is another that finds me in a state of change. I grew up with one sport that ever held a serious place in my life: baseball. In many ways, it’ll always be The One. But for obvious reasons, it’s increasingly hard to play as you age. I aged out of any ostensibly reasonable definition of the game more than a decade ago, and that’s being generous. Simply, I can’t play it. I can watch and enjoy it, though. I am a fan of the game, but I have my limits. I can only expend the energy on understanding and knowing one team. That team is the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers are my one true sports love.
Through my life hockey also held some sway. I played the roller version (unofficial) with friends in warehouse parking lots for a few years during college. I was a fan of my former hometown team the Los Angeles Kings. They even won a couple of Stanley Cups in the 2010s, and that was a good time. I never had the means to watch hockey with any consistency, so it couldn’t ever really take hold in my life. The past couple of years I have found myself rooting for the Vegas Golden Knights. I can’t help but like what the organization has done for the state of Nevada, and their newness makes it okay, I think, to switch allegiances.
Soccer has also entered the equation. Call me a sucker for marketing, but I latched on when Lionel Messi came to the MLS. I bought the TV package and saw some pretty awesome stuff right away. I picked a team, the Portland Timbers, because I think I’ll have the opportunity to see them play, as I visit that area quite a bit. I wasn’t able to dedicate enough time to watching, but I did watch a lot more than I ever had before, and I had a great time.
What do I play now? Well, I’m coming off a pretty unsuccessful mountaineering period of my life. I don’t do a lot now, but I will be running again soon and see myself working to complete a trail ultra soon. None of that counts much as “playing” but I enjoy them. Type 2 enjoy.