Take my son out to the ballgame

I grew up a sports fan in the city of sports fans.

Chicago, described by poet Carl Sandburg as the city of big shoulders, is actually the city of big dreams. And little victories.

I know because I watched part of almost every professional game played in the city, in person or on TV, from the time of my birth until I left for college.

My father was a fan's fan -- he was even buried in his Chicago Bulls T-shirt -- and he hoped his children would become sports spectators like he was. He took me to Blackhawks games when I was in elementary school. Then when hockey scared me, he took me and my older sister to Chicago Bears games.

It was love at first sight for football and my family. We became season-ticket holders and neither snow nor exams could cause us to miss a game.

We sat in one of the very top rows at Soldier Field, just underneath the scoreboard, where we drank hot chocolate, froze our toes off and yelled at the team until the Bears finally won the Super Bowl.

A decade after they won, when I was pregnant, I even considered naming my baby Payton, after legendary running back Walter Payton, who was the team's touchstone during the years of Sundays I watched them play.

I wanted to offer my son the same sports fan experience I had growing up, snow and all, but it didn't work out that way. Colter was born in Chapel Hill, N.C., where the closest rivalry was between Tobacco Road neighbors UNC and Duke University.

When we moved down 15-501 from Chapel Hill to Durham, my husband and I remained loyal Tar Heels, while our son split the family's loyalties by becoming a Blue Devils fan. This seemed only fair since, as a kid myself, I split my family's loyalties by becoming a Cubs fan, even though my father owned a small business in the shadow of Comiskey Park and knew people who worked for the White Sox.

But we all agreed about the Durham Bulls. They were a find. We took Colter to the AAA games and all enjoyed the showmanship. It helped that my employer owned the team and provided free tickets.

When we moved to Florida a few years ago, it was the Bulls' Major League counterpart -- the Tampa Bay Devil Rays -- we went to see play.

Our first Devil Rays game was thrilling: my birthday was announced on the Jumbotron. That same year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl. And then the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup.

I was in Sports Country again.

But only briefly.

I'm not much of an athlete -- I nearly flunked P.E. -- although I did play basketball (badly) and softball (with less enthusiasm) in high school. My husband is far more athletic than I am, but the last organized sport he played was volleyball -- not very popular down here, unless there are beaches and bikinis involved.

Colter has always been a physical kid, but after getting tired of soccer he took up channel surfing and GameCube as his personal pastimes (his thumbs do get quite a workout).

In an effort to re-engage him in team sports -- and because the tickets were once again free -- it was back to the baseball diamond for us.

But this time, things had changed. Or maybe I had.

First, there's the food. I spent $30 on two hot dogs, two orders of fries and one lemonade. And that tab didn't include the pizza, popcorn, peanuts and Dippin' Dots we ate after our "meal."

Then, there were the fans. As a kid, I screamed, "Bob Avellini sucks," from the stands. But as a parent, I was amazed by the language and gestures my son was suddenly seeing and repeating.

When you consider the crowds, the lines, the bathrooms and the parking, sports suddenly seem, well, unsportsmanlike.

There is as much jockeying and competition off the field as there is on it.

So, this lifelong sports fan may be hanging up her ball cap, at least until her son is on the playing field. Because however fickle I may have become about professional teams, I'm very loyal to my son: Wherever he plays, however he plays, I'll always be waiting on the sidelines, just as my father was.

This LifeFiles column originally appeared on about 70 TV station websites managed by Internet Broadcasting Systems.

Comments

[VJ]

I am the sports fan in our family. If anyone watches football on TV, it will be (aside, my MOM taught me the game of football).

This past week while Tony and I were visiting my parents in Washington State, we stumbled across game four of the Boston/NY baseball game. Tony was excited, and we watched most of that game, and the next two. Suddenly he was Jimmy Morris, the science teacher/turned Devil Ray (who played for the Durham Bulls)whose story was made into a "G" rated movie. It's his favorite movie right now.

As far as taking Tony to a game, -eh, probably not. $$$ is an issue, and the conduct, like you mentioned.

As a child, I only went to one basketball game (The SuperSonics v the Houston Rockets - the Soncis won by ten.) and a couple of baseball games (once as a family, other times with school/youth/groups.) If you want to know the truth, even though "my" teams won each time, I left the game unfulfilled. Not a great incentive to go back.

[ken]

I grew up in central Illinois, halfway between Chicago and St. Louis. Used to love to go to Comiskey Park and watch the Sox and the dreaded Yankees, back when they hand Mantle and Maris and Yogi. Used to buy bobble head dolls and plastic batting helmets. It was magical. Then I became a Cardinal fan and went to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs and Cards, a better rivalry than the Red Sox and Yankees, because it had bragging rights but not the bitterness. Today I can't afford professional sports for a family outing-it can easily cost $100+ for goods seats, concessions, and parking. We go to a lot of high school games where you can see good action at an affordable price, and without the arrogant egotism of overpaid athletes. Yes, professional sports have certainly changes over the years, but I only watch them on TV. At some point greed is going to kill professional sports. I enjoy going to high school cross-country races, my high school sport. People are so friendly, you can talk with the runners, and at some races there is an open junior-varsity race where the general public can run if so inclined. This is my kind of sports entertainment now, with action, school spirit, and even participation, all for free. But I still watch the Bears on Sunday and remember the good old times.

[RobinP]

Rich always pops a bag of popcorn, grabs a bottle of pepsi and plops himself on the couch for sports. No lines for food. No waiting to pee.

I wouldn't want my child exposed to unsportsmanlike behavior either. You are very wise!! Colter is fortunate to have you!!

[Philip]

Watching "professional" sports isn't what it used to be. I still enjoy the NFL a great deal, but baseball and basketball are another beast altogether in my opinion. That being said, there's a wealth of good athletics worth taking Colter to on all sort of different levels: your local high school on a Friday night for football or soccer. Soccer is a particularly good sport to watch as far as sportsmanship goes. There's minor league ball, soccer probably, baseball more than likely, and that still has the small town flavor and feel. There's youth teams, to give Colter a taste of what he'll be doing in years to come; pick one of the "select" teams in whatever sport, your newspaper probably mentions them occassionaly - if not, try one of the weekly local publications that every city seems to have. And after all that, you guys can always go create your own game in the yard. Get the neighbors involved and make it a big deal one weekend.

[TW]

My son plays basketball, my daughter plays soccer and basketball, we all watch Georgia football. Other than those, my favorite is the Birmingham Barons, the AA club for the White Sox. Minor league baseball is great. The fans aren't nasty, they players are still having fun, and it isn't all that (comparatively) expensive.

[emily]

What a lucky kiddo!