Sports

Our anesthesiologist kept the tv in the lounge on the Big Basketball Game today. His only subject of conversation and interest. G, the other nurse covering lunches today, shared my general dislike to disinterest in sports, harder on men in this society. But he confessed to having a Football team, the Steelers, but only because he came from there. I assumed this is like being a man from Boston, one simply must follow the Red Sox, it is mandatory, like having at least some Sam Adams beer in the fridge at all times.* We got talking about the sports we did enjoy, and why, and how much we missed the old Wide World of Sports, that very democratically showed them all. Games seen live are different, but so prohibitively expensive as to be out of range of ordinary people. I actually like AAA baseball seen in person, though I would never watch it on tv.

Which is how I got to appreciate fencing, and sumo, and ski racing, as well as arm wrestling - saw a guy get a dramatic spiral fracture of his humerus and radius in a match. Ew, but I'll never forget that. I've always loved the individual events, gymnastics, especially the uneven bars and mens rings - in which gravity is defied and the human body does impossible moves. I love the flowing beauty of ski moguls, as well as the half pipe - with snowboards, skates or bikes. Hockey, soccer and curling have that same wonderful movement, especially soccer (EU football) with the impressive athleticism of ninety minutes of running, while kicking a ball around. I probably like pool championships for similar reasons of flow.

Having taken some naginata, a Japanese martial art with their version of pikes, sabre, kendo, epee are all amazing to me.

I also have a soft spot for demolition derby, though not exactly a sport. I'm not usually a big fan of wanton destruction, but a small part of me craves such wastage, a frisson of fear of accidents. Log rolling and other work related demonstrations, like caber toss and sheep herding, are interesting for rarity value.

So many really cool sports around, and all that gets shown here are the money makers, the professional teams of Basketball, Football, and Baseball. Dull, corrupt and pointless. Mostly, dull.

Got a favorite niche sport?





*Yes, we did follow the Sox while in Boston, mostly so we knew what train to take depending on the game schedule. I never much liked Sam Adams, sadly. D is not a sports fan, but keeps up, because male culture defaults to sports. Which is why I know anything about babies or cooking or crafts, not out of personal interest, but to keep up the conversation with acquaintances.