I Am A Fangirl

I am not the girl that needs to be told the difference between a field goal and a free throw. I know where the 3 point line is. I know how you get to a shoot out. The questions I do ask are not merely to make conversation, they are for me to learn better for next time. I love sports. I have for as long as I can remember.

I got the idea for this post at the home opener of the Blackhawks game on Saturday. Hockey is both amazing and infuriating for the same reason: the game changes so fast. Unless there is a huge difference in the score, it really is anyone’s game until the clock runs out. Thankfully the Blackhawks won on Saturday, but there were many times last season when the game changed in the blink of an eye and we were on the short end of the stick. I didn’t get into hockey until recently, but with the prospect that the entire NBA season will be cancelled, I can see myself getting more familiar with all the rules.

The first sport I became a fan of is baseball.  We lived in Atlanta during the late 80s/early 90s when the Braves were in their stride. My mom got into the Braves shortly after we moved there and I followed her lead. When a team goes from worst to first, it’s hard not to fall in love with them. There is a pennant in my childhood bedroom dated September 1987. It was probably my first baseball game. I was 4. It’s not a game for everyone, I agree. It’s not the most exciting thing to watch on television. But then you go into game 162 and there are not one, not two, but four games with playoff implications, including two games that had two teams complete a September collapse and it’s hard not to get excited. The games with huge offense are as exciting to me as the no hitters and shut outs.

I probably love my Spurs the hardest. I have always been a fan, but when I was in exile from New Orleans because of Katrina, I got to use my parents season tickets to go to quite a few games. Basketball helped get me through one of the hardest times of my life. Of course, it’s easy to love a team that has two future Hall of Famers and wins 4 championships in 8 years.

I am just getting to know hockey and football. I had a dislike for football when I was younger because my dad would hog the tv all day on Sundays to watch all the games. It took moving to Chicago for me to finally pledge allegiance to the Saints. It never felt right cheering for the Bears or the Cowboys and I felt a kinship with the Saints since they were from New Orleans and went through all the craziness that I did.

The first time I saw an NHL game it was in person. My roommate spent the whole time explaining the game to me, but the energy in the United Center was amazing. The Blackhawks weren’t going to the playoffs, but it was the beginning of a team that everyone seemed to know would be poised for long runs in the playoffs for years to come. That was in 2008 and they won the Stanley Cup in 2010. It has been fun learning the sport  with a young, up and coming team.

Following a team day in and out is hard work, especially in baseball. And when you love a team as much as I love mine, there is no heartbreak bigger than your team going bust in the last month of the playoffs, losing the big game, or just completely sucking. But like the Cubs say – there’s always next year.

Braves image via Flickr.

Blackhawks image via Flickr.