Relative Something

Yes, of course I’m watching the first game of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. I was thinking about the team sports that I watch and it occurred to me that there is something that hockey, soccer, and basketball share that is not present in baseball or American football. In the latter two sports, the possession of the ball is well defined and therefore, in a way, the play lacks creativity. All the other sports share the aspect of spontaneity as the movement of the ball/puck is based on split-second decisions of the athletes and often determined by the position and movement of the defenders.

That’s a huge difference. It makes the creative sports a bit more difficult for broadcast television networks to package their barrage of advertising. You never know when the break in action will occur. Except for soccer. That one is easy because there is almost no break in action (except when the best actors/athletes display an extended anguish over their painful injuries) and they have to save their ads for halftime. Of course the advertisements are the whole reason they bother to televise the event in the first place. We’d like to think they just really, really want to show the world these sporting events and then decide to find some sponsors to finance it, but come on… Oops, is my inner skeptic showing?

I grew up under the influence of Minnesota Vikings football in my home and football easily became my favorite sport. Now that sport has become the least interesting to watch and I find myself torn because it remains the one with the most pleasant memories. There is a deep desire to reclaim all the experiences of autumn romanticized in my memory surrounding football. It just isn’t there for me anymore.

This all makes for convenient distraction from thinking about the fact that Julian’s flight home, from his study abroad semester in Stockholm, Sweden, that was supposed to arrive Saturday evening, was delayed and he is stranded overnight in Amsterdam. Not that big a deal, except for the fact he had intended to host a significant number of friends that he hasn’t seen for a long time, at our home to celebrate his return. The word did get out and we only had one visitor show up, confused to find himself the only guest.

Julian’s inherited passion for the Vikings and NFL football is the closest thing I have toward reliving my fond memories, and he’s almost home. I bet I can get him to watch some Stanley Cup games with me this week. Then, before you know it, the Vikings will be in training camp and we’ll get to share a dose of that passion of my youth.