Growing up: Sports ... yes or no?

[+ Lucky]

Growing up my siblings and I all developed fraught relationships with sports mostly due to my dad. He pushed us all hard into school sports because he couldn't really relate to us or the world in general except through the lens of sports. It was also not helpful that my dad (and my grandpa sometimes) would get into frequent altercations with various refs and coaches. My older sister and brother got it well into high school and while it didn't totally turn them off of sports it did make sure the way they enjoyed sports was in a lower stakes way and on their terms. My sister coaches Special Olympics and my brother like to play soccer in casual adult leauges.

 

I on the other hand just utterly rejected them. I definitely wasn't good at it but all through out grade school I was made to play at least baseball and soccer each year. I complained LOUDLY. The fact that I was on theses teams and not very good did not endear me to these other kids who were also my classmates in the small Catholic school I went to. So this went on until 8th grade when my parents told me they weren't going to enroll me anymore. This really strained my relationship to my dad to the breaking point. He hardly talked to me after then and along with my coming out to him in my mid 20's is why at best we have an akward relationship to this day.

 

So from high school on I utterly forgot about relating to sports in any way. I found my solace in sci-fi and fantasy books, tv, and movies. For awhile in high school I actively hated on sports till I realized I was being as much of a douche as the people making fun my interest in nerdy stuff. But still the best I can conjure up for sports is an indifference.

I like the paragraphing in your post. The white space in between helps me stay focused on your writing. I notice that in many of the longer posts where white space is not used that my eye has trouble following. Maybe age, but I don't know the real reason why this is difficult for me.

Here's my Google search result:

 

White space is a design principle. Simply, the absence of text draws your eye to the text. It literally refers to the amount of space around and between the words.

...

We should use white space because:

1. It makes it easier for us to read.
   
2. It draws the reader's attention to the text.
   
3. It is uncluttered and calming.
   

Sep 6, 2016

[LGatton]

I like the paragraphing in your post. The white space in between helps me stay focused on your writing. I notice that in many of the longer posts where white space is not used that my eye has trouble following. Maybe age, but I don't know the real reason why this is difficult for me

Nothing turns me off reading something more than uninterrupted blocks of text. I always try to be mindful when I'm writing of when I have moved on to a new point or thought so I can split it up into more digestible pieces

[+ poolboy48220]

These are great points, and clarity in writing is a subject dear to my heart, but rather than derail this thread, let's continue the writing discussion in Lucky's thread here: https://www.companyofmen.org/threads/suggestion-for-readable-longer-posts.160950/

[+ WilliamM]

Truly wonderful

You’ve misspelled Adenauer’s name twice.

Thanks

[+ Pensant]

I wasn’t an athlete as a kid, although I wasn’t horrible in PE. I developed the ability to ghost out of athletic competitions most of my life, especially softball games, without others noticing. The only sport that I was reasonably adept at was tennis, which I really ought to jump back into again.

 

In college, I started running and got into great shape. As an older adult, I’m pleased that I’m in better shape than most of the jocks I knew in high school.

 

As for televised sports: no interest. I don’t even have a television in either of my houses.

[+ RJD]

I played Little League baseball growing up. I wasn't very good and back in those days they didn't worry about including everyone. The best players played, the rest warmed the bench. Also played sports (unorganized pick-up games) with friends in my neighborhood growing up.

 

I have two older brothers who were very active in sports and a nephew who plays professional hockey, so even if I wasn't a participant, I was and still am a spectator.

 

My best friend, who is also gay, has had season tickets to the Philadelphia Eagles almost the entire time we've known each other, which is now over 30 years, and I've attended several games with him. I've also attended dozens of hockey and baseball games.

 

In addition to the excitement of the sport itself, there’s the whole strategy aspect which I enjoy like players being positioned correctly and the right play being executed.

 

Oh yeah, and baseball players have great asses. ?

Edited October 27, 2020 by RJD

[Rod Hagen]

Swimming every day or night I could get away from farm work in the 2 1/2 months of summer in Northern Minnesota.

 

And skiing. I've been skiing since I was 4 years old.

 

I tried track, but it exacerbated my asthma, so I usually false started purposely on anything great than 200m so that I'd be DQ'd.

[Luv2play]

I like the paragraphing in your post. The white space in between helps me stay focused on your writing. I notice that in many of the longer posts where white space is not used that my eye has trouble following. Maybe age, but I don't know the real reason why this is difficult for me.

Here's my Google search result:

 

White space is a design principle. Simply, the absence of text draws your eye to the text. It literally refers to the amount of space around and between the words.

...

We should use white space because:

1. It makes it easier for us to read.
   
2. It draws the reader's attention to the text.
   
3. It is uncluttered and calming.
   

Sep 6, 2016

https://www.writerswrite.co.za/why-you-need-white-space-and-5-ways-to-create-it/

I was guilty of that in my two posts so I went back after reading your post and edited them to provide spacing. My posts were numbers 14 and 17. Does that make them more accessible?

[BuffaloKyle]

Love watching on TV MLB (Mets), NFL (Bills) , NHL (Sabres), and NCAAB. When I was younger I only was on a bowling team once but our first year in the league we took down the three time defending champs. Their parents were pissed! lol. Wouldn't shake my friends' Dad's hand after the match. They were asking their kids how the hell they could lose to us.

[+ Lucky]

I was guilty of that in my two posts so I went back after reading your post and edited them to provide spacing. My posts were numbers 14 and 17. Does that make them more accessible?

Hehe...thank you! It was your post that prompted me to make the suggestion. ?

[Luv2play]

Hehe...thank you! It was your post that prompted me to make the suggestion. ?

Haha

[realeasymoney]

I forgot snow skiing. Family had a condo in Breckenridge.

[+ augustus]

Stick ball as a kid. Wrestling in high school. That's when I figured out I was gay.

[+ keroscenefire]

Swimming every day or night I could get away from farm work in the 2 1/2 months of summer in Northern Minnesota.

 

And skiing. I've been skiing since I was 4 years old.

 

I tried track, but it exacerbated my asthma, so I usually false started purposely on anything great than 200m so that I'd be DQ'd.

 

We have a similar sports background. Did swimming all throughout high school and college. Joined track for about a week because a friend was on the team, but I just didn't have the running fitness so I quit.

[Rod Hagen]

I forgot snow skiing. Family had a condo in Breckenridge.

Lucky you. I used to dread flying out to join friends at Breck. Then I discovered Diamox and totally fell in love with the place. Better Skiing through chemistry.

[+ WilliamM]

I had forgotten about playing ice hockey on a relatively small pond in Billerica, Massachusetts.

 

Later I religiously followed the Boston Bruins and my college team at Boston College where I went to most of the games

[+ sf westcoaster]

Zero ability, therefore zero interest. Convinced that as I traveled the hallway of creation that all the sports doors were closed.

[KrisParr]

These posts are very interesting- thank you.

 

I wonder how much the parenting role, especially the father, affects all this. Or any of it? My first serious relationship was with Bill. His dad was an executive who traveled a lot, so Bill mostly grew up with his mom and two sisters. He said he dad just wasn’t around much and when he was, spent most of his time with the “girls”. They never played ball, went to games or even talked about sports although he said sometimes a game would be on television but nobody was watching.

 

I played on some softball teams at work and the occasional tennis/golf outing and Bill would come along, but I could never get him to join In. One time he asked me to teach him how to throw and catch. So we went to a batting cage, and spent some time just with the basics. He was well-built, slim, tall, and seemed coordinated. But when I’d pitch and he’d take a swing, I swear he had his eyes closed. Couldn‘t throw, couldn’t catch. Tennis was a disaster as well. Shooting hoops in the driveway? He tried, he really did.

 

One day we went to the beach. Bill did swim and was really good, so he had that going for him. I took a football along and so we started tossing it along the shore. Good thing he could swim, because he never caught it, not one time. He was so good natured, but finally told me to stop trying to make him a jock. But he asked in the first place, so maybe it was a draw.

 

We were together for a few years and finally split on friendly terms. He met a great guy and they eventually married. According to social media, they are busy with canine rescue efforts. Good for Bill.

[+ MysticMenace]

I wish I could attribute my general disinterest in sports with the paternal interactions as I was growing up. I am the 3rd of 4 brothers, all lived under the same roof, same detached treatment from the father, but for some reason my 3 brothers were into basketball and actually into watching and enjoying sports, like football, basketball, and soccer. I, on the other hand, prefer watching Project Runway or ANTM. If I were to be interested in sports, it would be in the form of sexy and shirtless athlete compilations on Youtube. *sigh*

 

Nevertheless, I have started to enjoy watching tennis, especially when the players lift their shirts to wipe off their sweat, and also enjoy watching male swimming and diving. I guess I am growing into liking sports

[KrisParr]

One more ... I forgot to mention that “Bill” might not have been interested in sports, but in the bedroom, he was certainly MVP Hall of Fame quality. His “bat” was stellar, and his billiard-like balls were impressive. And stamina? Oh, my. He was definitely one of the best “catchers” in our league and a damn fine pitcher when the need arose.

[+ poolboy48220]

Our school did not have a wrestling team, or a boy's gymnastics team (only girls). I would have been interested in trying them.

[Rod Hagen]

The sports I like are the sports I like, BUT I've always loved this Amy Schumer quote from Trainwreck:

 

Dianna : Your thoughts?

 

Amy : I'm sorry, I just... I don't know why we treat these athletes like heroes just because they can skate fast or kick a ball in a net. I just think it's weird. No offense. I just think that sports are stupid, and anyone who likes them is just, like, a lesser person. And has a small intellect.

[+ RJD]

One more ... I forgot to mention that “Bill” might not have been interested in sports, but in the bedroom, he was certainly MVP Hall of Fame quality. His “bat” was stellar, and his billiard-like balls were impressive. And stamina? Oh, my. He was definitely one of the best “catchers” in our league and a damn fine pitcher when the need arose.

 

Ah, yes, a utility player. They do come in handy. They can “catch” and “pitch.” What’s really fun is to catch and pitch simultaneously, but that requires a dedicated catcher and a dedicated pitcher to join in the game. ?

[+ Charlie]

I don't think I would have been interested in sports if my father hadn't enjoyed both playing and watching all sorts of sports. He bowled with a league, and after he retired he played golf regularly with his friends. In the winter he liked to ice-skate, so my parents and I would go to Bear Mtn in NY, where the three of us would skate together. He taught me to play baseball, and he often took me to Dodger and Giant games on Saturday afternoons. The only game he didn't play was tennis--he thought it was a rich man's sport--which may be why it took me so long to discover my affinity for it.

 

My spouse, on the other hand, has never been interested in playing or watching any sport, and has always thought of himself as unsuited to athletics, largely because he was short and had poor eyesight. His father was a lawyer who had no interest in sports, and never encouraged him to play or even watch any sport. He never exercised until a gay colleague at work encouraged him to join a gym and lift weights when he was in his late 20s, and he has continued to do that for the rest of his life, so he certainly was physically fit enough to engage in sports if he wanted to. However, his two youngest brothers were much bigger than he was (I don't know where their genes came from) and were recruited by their schools to play football, at which they excelled. His youngest brother, now in his 70s and still built like a football center, is a passionate golfer, and his son was a competitive swimmer. I often talk sports with them, while my spouse chats with their wives.

[realeasymoney]

My most glorious sports moment: I took handball for one semester of PE in college. During the practical final, I beat the instructor.

 

Took fencing for a semester too. Loved it but not tall enough to really pursue it.