Ah, October. The best month of the year in my opinion. The smell and feel of autumn is in the air. The leaves are exploding in vibrant colors turning the world into a dazzling, Disney-esque enchanted land. (Unless you live where I do. Thanks a lot, Southern California. Your only Disney-eque enchanted land…is Disney). Anticipation grows for Halloween, Thanksgiving and the joy of the Holidays to come. And it is the single greatest month if you’re a sports fan. College football Saturdays, pro football Sundays…and my personal favorite OCTOBER BASEBALL!
This may be a good time to inquire about my reader demographic. I call this blog the Daddy’s Den, but I honestly don’t know if it’s being read by more daddies or mommies? I try to write about topics that both parents can relate to. The subject of sports may be polarizing. I know it is in our house. I’m a sports fan. Not an athlete mind you, but a sports fan. I love the entertainment value. The excitement. The drama. The triumphs and yes even the heartbreak. There’s no better reality TV. I even wrote and performed a one man show about my obsession with sports (Philadelphia sports in particular). So I confess I’m a sportsaholic. My wife not so much. And something tells me that’s the case in a lot of homes. That’s not to generalize and say all husbands are sports freaks and all wives are not. I know men who couldn’t care less and women who are HUGE sports fans. I grew up with a bunch of them: My mom, my sister. Hell, my grandmother just turned 97 and you can bet that the TV at the assisted living center better be turned to the Phillies game this weekend or some poor attendant is gonna get a cane up their arse. For the most part though, it’s the guy who’s into it and the girl who has to put up with it. If you created a pie graph and labeled it “Reasons For Fights Between Couples”, I bet sports would have a large piece of that pie. So what’s the solution to this? Is there a common ground in a household where one partner is obsessed with sports and the other indifferent? Truthfully? No
Sorry. Because here’s the thing. You can’t tell a sports fanatic to stop being a sports fanatic. Professional sports aren’t going away any time soon and if a person has a favorite team, chances are they’re not gonna just stop rooting for them no matter how bad or good they are. So unfortunately the only solution in my opinion (and I realize I’m biased because I’m one of the aforementioned fanatics) is for the non sports people to get on board however they can.
I’m not asking you to turn on a game and instantly become a knowledgeable fan. But I think it’s important to try and understand the addiction. Especially since we can’t get down to the bar with the guys as much so we need somebody to talk about this stuff. My poor wife has had to endure 13 years of my endless droning about a subject she cares nothing about. Here’s a perfect example. The final day of the 2011 baseball season was arguably the greatest single day in the history of baseball if not all sports in general. No exaggeration. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, don’t worry. I won’t try to explain it here. It was nothing short of miraculous. So much so that I HAD to explain it to my wife. I tried to lay the whole thing out in a way she could understand. Bless her heart she hung in there, but I don’t think she truly grasped the unbelievable events that took place. But she tried and I appreciated it. So ladies do your best to understand your man’s obsession. And men do your best to understand that there are those who just don’t care and never will in which case you can do what I do. Pass on your fanaticism to your kids. I have two boys. My oldest son is starting to really get into watching these games with me. His favorite is basketball. I don’t have the heart to tell him there may not be a season this year. How do you explain the word “lockout” to a 5 year old? The 2 year old said the word ”baseball” the other day (actually it was more like “day dah” but I know what he meant.) So I’m slowly getting my “guys at the bar” back. Soon we’ll be trading stats over beers and juice boxes. Which is good news and bad news for my wife. She’ll be off the hook as far as caring about it …but the cheers and screaming at the television is about to increase by two.
Author: Chris Loprete
Chris began writing his experiences as a new father upon the launch of Our Milk Money, calling his work, appropriately, The Daddys Den. Chris is no stranger to comedy composition. He wrote and performed his one-man show You’re from Philly, Charlie Brown, having successful runs at Circle X Theatre, The Lonny Chapman Repertory Theatre and The Comedy Central Workspace in Hollywood, California as well the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Chris has performed all over the country in theatrical productions, television and film. He is an alumni of The Circle X Theatre Company and The Groundlings Sunday Company. Currently, he is a senior writer/producer in Entertainment Marketing at ABC Television. Chris lives in Stevenson Ranch, California with his wife Ally and his two beautiful sons, Braden and Henry.
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