Earlier this year, my wife and I had a conversation about things we can do as a family. You know, something we could all get into and enjoy. Something we could throw ourselves into during the summer time since all of our television shows will be showing reruns. You know, a real family thing.
We chose getting into a sport. Baseball.
I told my wife that as I have chosen the New York Jets as our official NFL team, she should pick our baseball team we cheer for. And, since we are fans of the New York Jets, my wife said she, for once, wanted to cheer for a team that didn't lose all the time.
Seriously? Two AFC Championship games in three years and the Jets are... well, they're the Jets. Who am I kidding?
She said she wanted to cheer for a winner. She then showed her ignorance of the sport of baseball by saying three teams she would want to cheer for: The Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox, and the New York Yankees.
I pointed out she had said "Winner."
And that's how we became Yankee fans.
Some of my friends have a hard time with this. Mostly because we're now rooting for the "Evil Empire" of baseball (Believe it or not, that is not a Star Wars reference). Frankly, I don't care.
This is something we can get into together. Maybe its not the most popular team around (to me, that makes it even better), but they're our team now.
Later this fall, we really want to take a trip to Cleveland when the Yankees come to town. Even if we don't get to, though, it'll be nice to just have some summer nights spent watching some of America's past time and cheering for a team with a great history. As a family.
I'm a big supporter of kids participating in team sports. Even if they're not that good at it, I think sports can be a great thing for kids to get into. Sports teach us a lot about life, believe it or not.
Don't roll your eyes. Let me explain.
Cheering for a team when they're winning - that's easy. That's nothing. Cheering for a team when they're losing - that's loyalty. That's something I value in friends. In sports, its more than just being a fan, that's being faithful. There's something to that.
Remembering stats is a great way to introduce your kids to math. Batting Averages, On Base Percentage, adding up Runs Batted In. Math is all over sports like a politician on television come October. Not just percentages, but averages, speeds (pitches going around ninety miles an hour).
History in sports. Tradition. That stuff is important. Records, when they're set and when they're broke. They make great conversation if nothing else on family trips. In ten years, we could talk about whether or not Barry Bonds belongs in the Hall of Fame or not. Well, we could talk about that right now, except the extent of my daughter's baseball knowledge is limited to only identifying the ball at this point.
There's also rivalry. Competition. There's nothing wrong with a little bit of that, either. Having a healthy dose of anger at a certain team because they beat your guys last week and the euphoria of satisfaction when your team sweeps them the next time around.
Most importantly, I think sports can teach our kids one thing that many of us fail to grasp even as adults.
They teach us how to lose. How to hate losing, but to accept it. Baseball, in my opinion, is a sport of second chances. Strike out at your first at bat? That's fine. You'll get another chance later. Don't get a hit all night? Its a long season (162 games), so don't let it get you down. Don't make the playoffs? There's always next year (you're welcome, Cub fans).
Its okay to hate losing, because nobody should enjoy it. However, its important to know how to take defeat, hang your head for a moment, and face the day tomorrow. Life goes on after that final out, that last whistle, the last quarter.
I'm not saying you're a bad parent because you don't get your kid involved in hockey, or you're shortchanging your son if you don't force him to play some football in the backyard now and then, and if your daughter has no interest in softball or volleyball or cheerleading, that doesn't mean she's a failure as a kid.
To me, the most important thing about the sports we watch is that we can watch them as a family. That makes even losing okay with me.
Except we're Yankee fans, and we don't have to worry about that very often.
