This new blog venture of mine will focus on this passion. It's something I know I share with millions around the world! Sports is at the center of so many lives. From the Olympics to the F.I.F.A World Cup - the passion lives in all of us. So if you share my passion feel free to comment. You may not agree with me - in fact I hope you won't as long as you say it with passion.
How passionate am I? I've seen the Toronto Maple Leafs play live in Toronto, Buffalo, Montreal and Ottawa. I've travelled to Chicago to see England play the U.S.A in football (or soccer if you prefer). In Toronto I saw Manchester United put on a clinic against Glasgow Celtic. I went to Columbus to see Toronto F.C play the Columbus Crew and I've watched T.F.C several times live in Toronto. I saw the U.S.A play Uruguay in the under 20 World Cup (again soccer) in Toronto and I've been to see the Bills in Buffalo on more than one occasion. I once travelled to Pittsburgh to watch the Braves play the Pirates - although baseball's not really my sport. I've also occasioned the minor league venues from time to time such as the baby Leafs in St. John's Newfoundland, the Niagara Falls Thunder, the Niagara Ice Dogs and the Blue Jay's farm team in St. Catharines many years ago.
The point is I've enjoyed many different sports in may different venues. That is what being passionate about sport is all about. You can't just be the sports couch potato! You have to get out there and enjoy the atmosphere of your obsession. If your like me - I look forward to your comments!
Al, I can only agree with you mate. The only things that differ are the teams and only one of them. My passions are Manchester United, Toronto Maple Leafs, Sale Sharks, and anything to do with England at most sports. I'm lucky to share some of these passions with fellow people like yourself. It means we'll always have something to talk about in the pub, something to always revel in their' successes. I'd much rather be classed as `obsessed` in relation to the sports teams that I love, than either not be obsessed, or be a train spotter, space cadet or stamp collecting numpty. As well as being defining in the kind of person you are, i think that your hobbies/passions/obsessions define so much more about you. They certainly are the cause or the effect of certain personality traits, whether it's a propensity for drunken football songs, or a deep-rooted knowledge of the adhesive used on a penny black. But they also say so much more about us, the clothes we wear, the people we hang around with, the friendships we build over years, even our diet. How many train spotters indulge in a foot long hot dog at the game stacked with onions ketchup and mustard. They're more likely to be sipping a cold mug of tea, while scribbling in their ring binders. This isn't a denigration of that behaviour, well maybe it is, but I'm just trying to make a point. Our love of sports brings out a naturally human reaction in us, the act of tribalism. We immediately identify around ourselves, those of the same `tribe`, and intuitively form common bonds with them. And by doing this we follow the oldest human tradition and pastime of all. the simple act of simply belonging.
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