Opening Day, Sportsball, and the Like

Erik Bates | July 24, 2020
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Scott Hardie | July 24, 2020
Sure. Via his enjoyment of NASCAR, Steve Dunn taught me years ago to appreciate the narrative in sports. Watching cars drive in circles is much more interesting than it should be if you keep up with team rivalries, dramatic recoveries, underdog triumphs, shocking failures, and other twists and turns of the "narrative."

But that's easier said than done. It's a big time commitment getting into a sport before you can build up that knowledge. And if you stop paying attention for a while, you lose the thread, so it becomes another ongoing time commitment just to keep up with it.

So I enjoy watching sports, especially the faster-paced basketball and soccer. But I don't enjoy them enough to devote that kind of time to keeping up with them. I'm satisfied just seeing the occasional big play that breaks through to mass attention, like that Minneapolis Miracle last year that won a playoff game at the literal last second.

Possibly related: I don't live in a sports town. Our nearest teams are in Tampa and St. Pete an hour north of here. I know a few locals who love the Bolts, some locals who like the Rays, and, well, nobody who likes the Buccaneers. I know more Dolphins fans in this area than Bucs fans.

Samir Mehta | July 24, 2020
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