From Sidelines to Super Fans: How Sports Passion Shapes Our Lives

From Sidelines to Super Fans: How Sports Passion Shapes O...

By Jason Bolton August 21, 2024 10:39

Howard Castleberry, staff / Houston Chronicle

Hello my future audience! My name is Michael, and I was a high school teacher for thirty years. When I retired to southern California, it took only a few months before my wife told me I needed a hobby ASAP. Six years later, I decided to write about a subject I love and miss teaching: History. Too many of you are rolling your eyes at the mere mention of high school history.

You probably paid more attention to the clock than the lesson, especially after the introduction of the IPHONE. I'd like to think I was one of those teachers who you remember for life. With that in mind, I would not dream of wasting your time conjuring up bad memories. Instead, I will focus on one aspect of history which everyone has an opinion on.... SPORTS!

If you put a group of strangers in a room, what subject would be the better icebreaker: politics or sports? Sports, of course, because everyone has memories of sports throughout their lives. Who doesn't remember what they were doing the day your favorite team won the Superbowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup, the NBA finals or the World Cup? Not to mention the sports we participated in as kids and adults, along with our children's endeavors.

Our girls did competitive cheerleading. I still have nightmares of their flying through the air while a base made up of wide- eyed little girls tried to catch them, yet the reality is, they did! The link between young girls participating in sports and success as adults is supported by clinical studies like the one done by the Women's Sports Foundation published in 2016. Sorry, did I slip a little history in there?

I taught US History for most of my career stressing how individuals across the cultural spectrum influenced history, not just the politicians. I define culture as anything that stimulates our senses from the time we wake up until bedtime, which can be overwhelming. Sports allow us to focus on one subject and block out other distractions. My writing will offer history, in case someone didn't grow up knowing who Willie Mays was, as well as my perspective on how sports have affected past and present-day America.

I hope to fill in gaps helping you better understand the history of a sport you love and rekindle memories we share. My opening topic is about a sport that doesn't exist. It was created in our minds playing on a notion that we can be scouts, GMs and owners of our own teams. I will confess that Fantasy Sports are fun.

Unless, of course, your team's first three draft picks are hurt at the start of the season. We have watched the fantasy phenomenon grow exponentially over the last 20 years. The industry has grown to the point where it has endless podcasts streaming. These "experts" make money for talking about a fantasy world where even if your analysis is wrong as to who should be the number one pick, it doesn't matter! Fans can't get enough. Magazines are written about a fantasy world.

The thought of such a thing is incomprehensible 40 years ago. On a positive note, participants do get to know more players than only those on their favorite team. A definite negative is trying to watch a game while being distracted by the teleprompter at the bottom of the screen. I did not participate in Fantasy Baseball this summer and I must tell you it was liberating. I was the annoying player who proposed totally stupid trades at all hours of the day. It was nice not receiving emails from frustrated league mates.

I did mention Willie Mays earlier. His passing sparked me to write this article. I was fortunate to see the end of Mays' career but not Mantle. I can't weigh in on who is better, but I can pinpoint the year I got hooked on baseball: the 1969 NY Mets. The 1969 World Series is seared into my memory especially the pitching staff. I cried when Seaver was traded to the Reds. When I went to little league, my pitching motion was modeled after Jerry Koosman.

What more can be said about the career of Nolan Ryan? Ryan was the Met's fifth starter. Please take a minute to try and come up with that team or moment from your childhood that started your love affair with sports. If you love sports, you have an origin story. I will leave you with this tribute to fantasy baseball by giving my starting fantasy lineup for the year 1969.

At first, Willie McCovey
At second, Rod Carew
At shortstop, Rico Petrocelli
At third, Sal Bando
At Catcher, Johnny Bench
In right, Henry Aaron
In center, Reggie Jackson
In left, Cleon Jones
Starter, Mel Stottlemyre

I think I could win a league or two with that group!

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