The last couple posts have been deep thoughts by Joe. I thought perhaps I may lighten it up a bit, share a couple of personal interests that I’m into, have a few drinks, have a few laughs… “‘come to LA,’ she said. ‘It’ll be fun,’ she said”… you know!
Ok, so, growing up my Dad had a tiny TV in the garage – you know the kind, from the late 80s, it was less than a foot tall. Grey. He had it up on… I think a filing cabinet, right next to his pipe stand. (By the way, I’m going to talk about Dad and his pipes in another post). Every weekend, he would work out in the yard, the garden, outside, etc, and he would
turn on the TV and have it in the background. I learned more about sports from this time than I think I did any other time. He would have on NASCAR, tennis, Indy car racing, golf, things like that, and I loved it! Boris Becker vs Andre Agassi anyone? Dale Earnhardt owning the track? Mario and Michael Andretti?
These are my memories hanging with Dad outside. I think I was supposed to help outside but I ended up playing all the time. Shocking, I know! Fond memories.
I occasionally watch basketball now, hockey, soccer (I’m converting Dad to watch soccer) and occasionally baseball (never football). And… you know, it brings me back to time watching these things with my Dad. So I try to share my spectator sports with my kids – especially Jack and Luke.
Well, traditional sports, that’s nice. But my non-traditional sporting education has led me to enjoy other, non-traditional sports. Recently I’ve branched out to like new things- y’all already see my new like of F1. I like that F1 turns left AND RIGHT! It’s amazing! I also have branched out into other open wheel racing, including the new “Formula E” series. I enjoy extreme sports, mountain biking, motocross, things of that nature (before ALS I also enjoyed DOING some of these sports, just so you don’t think I sat on the couch ALL the time.)
Another new thing I branched out into is possibly the greatest sport ever. It’s hundreds of years old, shares an international following, and requires strength, stamina, speed and patience. Are you ready?
That’s right, Sumo wrestling. On the list of things that should be on ESPN 8 the Ocho, this is one. Luckily, if you get the NHK channel, you get sumo 6 times a year, 15 days each time. (March 11 is the next tournament.)
What do you think, Reader-Land? Pretty eclectic, yes? Fear not, I still watch regular sports, but I’m just not your average red-blooded American man – I’ve always been a little different.
But, in fairness, it all started with my Dad and his tiny TV.
Joe's ChronicALS 