I’ve been watching sports

It almost feels like a dirty secret I’m confessing. I joked in an e-mail with a colleague tonight, who pointed out that he was impressed that I was watching a sporting event, not to tell anybody because it’d ruin my street cred.

Ask any of my friends, and they’ll tell you, I’m not a sports fan.

I’ve explained it all kinds of ways:

I don’t like sports.
I don’t like sports fans.
I don’t understand the rules.
Watching on TV is boring.
I’m allergic to sports.

At the end of the day, I’ve just never been into competitive sports, because I’m a different type of competitive. I’m much more into competing with myself, so I like solo sports like rock climbing and snow boarding.

Even when I’ve watched sports that I do like, I’ve never followed them. I never memorized player stats, or knew where a team stood in a given championship.

I had nothing to personally gain or lose from knowing, or not knowing any of those things.

So why, on earth, would I take the risk of blowing my “personal brand” as a sports luddite?

I love the vibe of Philly pride.

Philly’s sense of pride is something special, and I’ve made mention of it on this blog in a negative light.

It’s fickle, and our city’s pride in our sports teams is a blister of an example for it.

But when its good, when it’s uniting, it’s a beautiful thing to be a part of a city that is proud.

I’ve been watching sports because right now, Philadelphia is proud of something for the right reasons. I wish that pride of being a Philadelphian permeated more than just the sports season. I’m watching Philadelphia sports so I can understand what about it makes us so proud, so it can be applied elsewhere in our daily lives.

Hopefully, I’ve still got my street cred.

November 2, 2009 | Filed Under 2009, community, philadelphia |

Comments

ringmaster

Conversely, you don't see people wearing t-shirts for the great things people in Philly are doing that aren't sports. It helps to have billion-dollar business driving the influx of licensed (and grossly unlicensed, from what I saw in the stadium parking lot) sports merchandise.

Would that we spent so much and valued so much the arts and science.

Concerning street cred, I doubt the realization that you enjoy the rush of feeling with the crowd and having a common thread with people outside your usual crowd is anything to be worrying about. I believe that the adage - friends who would dismiss you for your differing beliefs weren't your friends to begin with - also applies here.