A fair weather friend is someone who is with you when you
are up but doesn’t know you when you are down.
I would like to think that I am not a fair weather friend, but I am very
definitely a fair weather fan.
I rooted
for Tiger Woods intensely, spending endless hours watching golf, which is
basically a tedious game – a good walk ruined, as Mark Twain called it. But once Tiger started losing, I dumped him
unceremoniously. I have enough grief in
the real world; I don’t need the pain of seeing my hero lose.
This morning I watched Serena Williams demolish her
semi-final Wimbledon opponent and on Saturday I will be rooting for her to beat
Halep and tie Margaret Court’s ancient record.
But if Williams loses, I will be like “Serena who?”
I know, I know, I am lower than pond scum. But there it is.
11 comments:
So, the answer to the question, "Which side are you on, boys, which side are you on?," is, "It depends."
Definitely when it comes to sports. Life, not so much. :)
I used to be a fan of my teams through thick or thin. Now, however, I'm a fan only through thick. Thin, their on their own. I mostly watch soccer these days, a sport I never played as a kid, but got to watching it after the World Cup was here in 1994. But I refuse to get riled up over the games. I record them, and if my team (DC United) won, I watch. If not, I delete it.
A man after my own heart.
As someone who has played tennis since I was about 9 or 10 years old or so (i.e., a *very* long time, even though I'm not as old as RPW;)) and who has improved somewhat over time w/o ever really exiting the hacker category, when I watch tennis (which I don't do that often, not having a working TV), I don't usu. care that much who wins. What I care about is how good the match is, how well the points are played, how good the rallies are, etc.
I had the chance to go to the US Open in NY for the first time last summer. The weather was steam-bath-like. At one point I sat right next to a satellite court on which two junior-division players, both about 19 I'd guess, one from the US and one from Poland iirc, were having a v. good match. The temperature conditions on the court were so extreme that halfway through the powers-that-be moved the players to another court, presumably one less directly exposed to the sun, w/o bothering to tell the audience (which numbered perhaps two, not counting the players' coaches) where they were going. So I didn't see the end of that match. In general, if the match is good, I'd rather sit right next to the court and watch two unknown players than watch the established stars from thousands of feet away in the stands.
Can you still be a fan of Arthur Ashe?
LFC, you are more a maven than a mere fan. You actually know what is going on.
JKR, I am afraid I never was.
As a boy I was a real Dodgers fan, at least until I hit puberty.
This is why it has so enjoyable to be a Patriots fan, at least for the the last 17 years. My team wins, and wins, and then wins the Super Bowl at a rate never before seen. I'm happy, and everybody else hates me.
Sports-talk on RPW's blog? A temporizing reprieve, to which all might enthusiastically contribute. I love the Williams' sisters, but Simona Halep---whom in all probability Serena will meet in the Wimbledon Final, has won me over--- wretchedly perverted to infidelity as I am. As a boy I was a real Ayn Rand fan, at least until I hit puberty.
@JKR
Arthur Ashe was a class act, both as player and human being. So I think the answer to your question is yes.
How about a raised clenched fist to salute the women from the World Champion Soccer team who refused to go to the "fucking White House" to meet Trump?
Otherwise, I myself don't have much use for sports.
Post a Comment