Conditions Under Which I Will Watch Baseball

Holy crap, I know a lot of die-hard baseball fans. Rock on, y'all.

When I was young, my parents and their friends were very into football, so that's always been my fan sport of choice. I like watching hockey and soccer, too. Action-packed. Exciting.

Baseball is slow and contemplative and repetitive. It's a game with a designated time for getting out of your seat to stretch and get your blood flowing again. While a guy plays the organ.

I did spend three uber-fun seasons attending baseball games at A&M. In trying to figure out why that was so great, yet I can't manage to even feign interest since then, I've identified some factors that come into play. It seems I'll watch baseball (sculling, bowling, photosynthesis...) if any of the following conditions are met:

1) I'm physically present in the stands. If I am in attendance at any sports event, I'm watching and actively participating.

2) A friend or family member is playing. I'm a very exuberant cheerleader. It's always me screaming on the home video.

3) There exists a tear-jerker, Olympics-esque backstory involving an underdog team or a player overcoming adversity or going for a big record. I watched three games (matches? tournaments? gaggles?) of GOLF (more sedate than baseball ever was) a few years ago when a guy was going for some record against Tiger Woods. It was positively gripping. I even teared up when he got it. Or lost... I can't remember.

4) It's the Aggies. And it's a very important game. And I'm not at the mall or something.

5) I'm at a game watching party or sports bar gathering. Although, one time in college I went to a huge Final-Game-of-the-World-Series party at UT with Kimberly, where I somehow managed to avoid watching the game all night. My opening question on arrival: "So who's playing?"

6) The guy I'm dating/married to is into it. If I honestly examine my motives for going to all those Aggie baseball games, boys played a role. It was a cheap date (I had my own season tickets) and it was a fabulous place to go with girlfriends to meet guys. I think I was at every home game the year I went with Jeff and his buddies. Today Jeff will watch baseball, but he isn't a huge fan. He did keep track of the Florida game the other night via the net.

In the end, I try to nod and smile and take part in all the baseball conversations going on around me these days, with bits of information I've gleaned from other conversations. So, um... Omaha!! Woo!! (Don't be too impressed... I thought Omaha was the team we're playing next, until I realized it was odd that UT was playing them as well.)