A One Time Blue Event

I believe God created sports for a good reason. It's recreation. It's something that we enjoy. It teaches us a lot as well... I believe God is a sports fan. ~Luke Scott


I don't know about that, but I do know I'm a sports fan. Mostly I'm one of those armchair fans who watch from home with with my eyes riveted on the TV screen. Oh, I talk to the players, encourage them to steal the ball, make a shot. Sometimes I yell at them to rebound. Not that they can hear me from my spot on my living room couch. But I have to cheer them on, admire a great pass, and get excited about a fast break dunk. 

A rabid sports fan is one that boos a TV set. ~Jimmy Cannon

Okay, I might even boo sometimes. Never at the players on my team, but sometimes at those referees who obviously can't see!! LOL. 

We are inclined if we watch a football game or a baseball game, we have taken part in it. ~John F. Kennedy

It can be hard work being a fan who really gets involved in whether his or her team is playing well. Some of you out there probably think it's crazy to be a sports nut. Some of you are probably a sports nut over your favorite team the way I am over Kentucky basketball. 

It may be that all games are silly. But then, so are humans. ~Robert Lynd

Silly or not, I've been following Kentucky basketball since I was a young girl. I listened to every game on the radio even though my parents never bothered to listen. But there I was with my ear pressed up against the radio listening to Caywood Ledford call the UK basketball games. 

I've been to a few games over the years, but it had been a long time since I'd sat in Rupp Arena to cheer on the team. Then our son and daughter-in-law gave us tickets and so we climbed way up to Row Z in the upper arena and took in the ballgame last night. Actually, even though we were up high in what some call the nose-bleed seats, it was easy to see the action on the court and it was great fun to yell and have twenty thousand other nuts yelling with me. And we did, indeed, boo the referees. Roundly!! But we also cheered on our young team. We groaned when they missed a shot. We yelled defense when the players were working hard to get their first lead. We stomped and clapped and yelled with the feeling that we mattered to the outcome on the court. And it was fun. 

Going to a Kentucky basketball game is an event for many fans. Tickets are not easy to come by in the lower arena. This game before the students start back to school is when many "regular" fans, who rarely get to see a game in person, have more chance at getting a ticket. It was easy to see that attending the game was an event for many people because of how everybody had their phones out taking pictures like they were at a tourist attraction. And I guess that's where we were. A sports attraction. So we took a "selfie" too. If I look like I'm having more fun than my husband, that's because I am!!

How about you? Are you a big sports fan? And what team gets your blood pumping?

While looking for quotes for this post, I came across this one. What do you think? A lot of truth here, isn't there?

Andre Dawson has a bruised knee and is listed as day-to-day. Aren't we all? ~Vince Scully

Sports, Writing and Life

I've been a University of Kentucky basketball fan almost as long as I've been a writer. When I was about twelve, I got one of those little transistor radios. We thought they were quite the trick. You didn't have to plug them in. You just had to have batteries. Then I could hold it up to my ear and turn my head this or that direction and get a pretty good signal. You young folks won't understand that, but you older folks will. I had to position the radio to catch those radio waves. And then I could listen to the UK ballgames. As well as I remember nobody else in my family listened to the games, but I loved hearing Cawood call the action. In my mind, I could see the players running up and down the court, racing out on fast breaks, making baskets, winning. I don't remember any of Rupp's championships. I do remember the year we thought they were going to win and then all the players had the flu or something when they got to the Final Four. I'm not like some fans who can name every player and the year they played. But I did enjoy listening.

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As to why I started listening, who knows? None of my family had ever gone to the university - to any university. But in Kentucky, if you weren't from Louisville and sometimes even if you were, you pulled for the Cats. I've heard lots of theories of why, but I think we just love basketball. We cheer for those little mountain town teams that go to the state tournament and pull off upsets. We never forget the guys who score like there's no tomorrow on their way to the state championship. We need winners. The UK basketball team was a winner then and now too.

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This year's team is in Houston at the Final Four. I filled out a bracket and put them all the way to the championship, but to be perfectly honest, I never thought they'd get past two games. That may be why it's so much fun to see them there. Last year we were expecting it. This year every win has been a hard fought treat. So I've got on my UK shirt and I'm ready to sweat through another game on Saturday.

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And of course I devour the newspaper articles about the team because that's part of the fun. I don't do the internet sites. There are only so many hours in the day and I've got a book to finish editing and another one to write. So as much as I like the Cats, I can't spend all my time checking out what the latest predictions or rumors are out there now.

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In the paper a week or so ago, the reporters were asking Brandon Knight - after the game where he missed every shot except the last one that won the game - if he was worried about shooting. Knight was as unflappable as ever even with all those microphones shoved in his face. He simply told them that he never lost confidence in his shot. That after a bad game he went in the gym for extra practice shooting, but he knew he had a good shot and the next time it would fall. Wayne Gretzky, the great hockey player once said, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

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That doesn't only apply to basketball or hockey although it's certainly true about those two sports. But you know what? It also applies to writing. I don't know how many people have told me that they "always wanted to write a book." I tell them that there are no age limitations for writers, and they smile and say maybe someday. But you know if you never take that shot, you'll never know if you can score or not. I started shooting stories at the writing goal a long time ago, but there have been plenty of times I have thought I shouldn't take another shot. But I kept taking my shots and eventually I got my game day legs and was able to win the game. Or maybe I should say the quarter or the play, because the game's not over yet. I'm hoping to have time for a few more winning shots at the goal.

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Anything we do in life is like that. We have to step to the line and take our shot. And when we miss, we have to jump right back in the game and give it another try.

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How about you? Are any of you sports fans? Do you ever relate the game of life to sports? Oh yeah, and go Big Blue. I'll either be extra happy Sunday when I come back to visit or saying wait till next year. :-)