Not a Sports Fan

I am not a sports fan. I don’t care what Barry Bonds injected at BALCO and I don’t care how many home runs he’s hit or if he got into the Hall of Fame. I do enjoy fictional movies about competitions in which the good kids win or hard work beats privilege. I was a Tiger Woods fan when he was one of the youngest golfers on the PGA Tour and famous for his work ethic. I used to watch all the Olympic competitions just to see the athletes do amazing things. I admired the athletes for their commitment and hard work.

I always wanted to be a parent and share my values with my child. Maybe that’s why it’s been years since I admired someone without thinking critically about whom, exactly, that person is. Before I can admire a sports figure, I need to feel confident that I can share my admiration with my child. I’m afraid that I’ll end up having to explain something less than inspirational: What’s fixing a game? What are steroids? What’s a DUI? What’s spouse abuse? What’s rape? At some point, it seems to me, athletes stopped trying to be heroes—or maybe they never were, and their publicists just stopped trying to cover for them—or maybe I just grew up. In any case, it’s rare that I admire a professional athlete today.

In addition to the questionable behavior of players, there’s another thing that keeps me from becoming a fan. Fandom implies commitment to one team. But consider this: if I could find a reason to root for one player or team, I’m sure I could find similar reasons to root for other teams. That would make it hard to get excited about one team beating another, wouldn’t it?

It’s not that I don’t enjoy watching competition. I enjoy seeing people strive to prove their supremacy on the field, in politics, or in business. I try to understand the interplay of strategy and talent, and how the combination leads to success or failure. I look for concepts that I can apply to my own life, or values I can share.