I recently saw this photo. It should read: Clay Bennett STOLE my childhood. After the initial laugh, I think it's true. He took MY childhood and also ruined that of my kids. He is not solely to blame of course, just ask Husband who the true villain of the Sonics departure is...(think Starbucks founder) plus the plentiful politics involved with stadium renovations, etc. Bennett took away such a major part of Seattle sports history, that I become nostalgic for a sport I rarely watched, and in the scheme of things, ranks low on my interest level. However, I feel sad that my kids won't grow up rooting for a basketball team of their own. Seattle has never seemed to be able to hold onto a firm "home team" loyalty. Our baseball and football teams have been a roller-coaster of ups and downs, play-offs and slumps. We hardly have the hard core fan base of the Yankees, Red Sox or mid-West football, but at least we have our own teams to root for and despise.
You might think me an odd choice for your sport reporting and I do not claim to know or understand all the ins and outs of each sport, its rules and, heaven knows, the inane statistics and salary negotiations, but I do have an understanding and, some might find, slanted view of the sports world. I hate to say it, but I AM a girl, and view athletics as one who never physically participated.
My sports knowledge is compiled by having watched dozens of Mariners games (and the heartbreak of losing favorite players or in our case, entire teams), following the tabloid stories of athletes as well as countless episodes of back-to-back SportsCenter programing. Not to mention a habit from my youth of learning key rules and player bios so I can appeal to the opposite sex. Through the past 15 years, I have learned enough to have an understanding (albeit an average one) and an opinion (often a strong one) of the sports world that often dominates the news and dinner table conversation. I married a jock, a former high school quarterback with record performances, a college baseball player (with less of a record performance) and an avid fan of all things sports related, so I try to keep up with fantasy football, UFC and MMA, college basketball (yuk), NBA (also yuk), NFL, the short lived XFL, Seattle Thunderbirds and my personal favorites horse racing and MLB.
You can imagine my hesitance at the newer sports penetrating the Seattle fan base: the refreshed Sounders and the highly controversial Lingerie Football League. Just this morning, I read that the Sounders have outsold Mariners for season tickets. What is it about soccer that fans love so much? Much more of an international sport, I'm surprised at the anticipation of the season, maybe because I dislike soccer so much. Obviously there is an interest, but all I see is another sport to learn and teach to my kids. We'll see how long the interest holds, after all, Sounders have been in Seattle for sometime and just now gaining momentum.
The Lingerie League is something else. We now have the Seattle Mist. I get equality for women, but call me old-fashioned on this one -- football is not for women. How is it realistic that the NFL plays in heavy pads, yet the Lingerie League boasts tackle football in boy short and sports bras? Ouch. It's mud wrestling on turf. I find it hard to believe the tackles are going to be as legit and powerful when playing half-naked. Not to mention the emphasis on beautiful players and semi-erotic names like Los Angeles Temptation and San Diego Seduction. If women want to be taken seriously in pro-sports aren't there better avenues to do it? Play like the men do and as hard as they do if you want the same respect. And IF this sports actually goes somewhere, what message is this sending to my daughter and what's my role in teaching it?
So, although we no longer have a basketball team, and although the Seahawks and Mariners seem destined to just fall short of any major playoff title, at least we have some new teams to keep our interest. However long that lasts.
You might think me an odd choice for your sport reporting and I do not claim to know or understand all the ins and outs of each sport, its rules and, heaven knows, the inane statistics and salary negotiations, but I do have an understanding and, some might find, slanted view of the sports world. I hate to say it, but I AM a girl, and view athletics as one who never physically participated.
My sports knowledge is compiled by having watched dozens of Mariners games (and the heartbreak of losing favorite players or in our case, entire teams), following the tabloid stories of athletes as well as countless episodes of back-to-back SportsCenter programing. Not to mention a habit from my youth of learning key rules and player bios so I can appeal to the opposite sex. Through the past 15 years, I have learned enough to have an understanding (albeit an average one) and an opinion (often a strong one) of the sports world that often dominates the news and dinner table conversation. I married a jock, a former high school quarterback with record performances, a college baseball player (with less of a record performance) and an avid fan of all things sports related, so I try to keep up with fantasy football, UFC and MMA, college basketball (yuk), NBA (also yuk), NFL, the short lived XFL, Seattle Thunderbirds and my personal favorites horse racing and MLB.
You can imagine my hesitance at the newer sports penetrating the Seattle fan base: the refreshed Sounders and the highly controversial Lingerie Football League. Just this morning, I read that the Sounders have outsold Mariners for season tickets. What is it about soccer that fans love so much? Much more of an international sport, I'm surprised at the anticipation of the season, maybe because I dislike soccer so much. Obviously there is an interest, but all I see is another sport to learn and teach to my kids. We'll see how long the interest holds, after all, Sounders have been in Seattle for sometime and just now gaining momentum.
The Lingerie League is something else. We now have the Seattle Mist. I get equality for women, but call me old-fashioned on this one -- football is not for women. How is it realistic that the NFL plays in heavy pads, yet the Lingerie League boasts tackle football in boy short and sports bras? Ouch. It's mud wrestling on turf. I find it hard to believe the tackles are going to be as legit and powerful when playing half-naked. Not to mention the emphasis on beautiful players and semi-erotic names like Los Angeles Temptation and San Diego Seduction. If women want to be taken seriously in pro-sports aren't there better avenues to do it? Play like the men do and as hard as they do if you want the same respect. And IF this sports actually goes somewhere, what message is this sending to my daughter and what's my role in teaching it?
So, although we no longer have a basketball team, and although the Seahawks and Mariners seem destined to just fall short of any major playoff title, at least we have some new teams to keep our interest. However long that lasts.
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