Sports Connection
Do you and your spouse enjoy watching sports together?
If one of you or both of you cannot stand sports, is there something else you enjoy doing together that has no purpose but fun?
Our Experience
I was not clever enough to come up with a compelling Halloween prompt like, when it comes to Halloween candy are you a sweet or sour person?
But this week Libby and I have enjoyed doing something together that we have not done all year: watch baseball on TV.
Neither of us stayed up late enough to see the historic 18-inning World Series game the other night, but we have watched most of all five games so far, even though we are not devoted to either team. In typical Libby fashion she is pulling for the Toronto Blue Jays because of our close friends from Canada.
In our first year of marriage we read a book, The Intimate Marriage (not the current book by that title). It expanded the concept of intimacy to any activity that you do together which promotes connection and shared experience. The book would say that we have sports intimacy.
Now I admit that our sports interest is not equal, as evidenced by the fact that I record several sports talk shows, usually watching only the beginnings for the major story if I watch them at all. (Libby cannot stand one of my favorite. Pardon the Interruption because she thinks that Tony and Mike only argue and yell at each other. (Her opinion, I believe is rooted in the communication style of her family of origin. More on that in another post.)
What do we enjoy about watching sports together?
It is an activity that has no utility or purpose other than enjoyment. We get to be like friends instead of a couple working on keeping our marriage fresh and managing our life well.
We are both inspired by seeing people give their best energy, skill and effort to an endeavor. (Although, we realize that it should not cause permanent injury or brain damage.)
We are suckers for the personal stories.
This World Series was compelling already because it includes a player not seen since Babe Ruth, Shohei Ohtani. But there are other great stores. For instance, the Toronto Blue Jays pitcher who won game five, Trey Yesavage, is only twenty two and did not move up from the minor leagues until September 15. Last night was the fifth game he has ever pitched in the Majors. He started the season on a Single A team which is about four rungs below the majors, the bottom. Overnight bus rides, paying most of your personal expenses, sharing a room with as many teammates as can be crammed in. Have you heard of the Dunedin Blue Jays?
And on Wednesday night he did something that no pitcher had ever done in the World Series. He struck out twelve batters and walked none. (Did I mention that he did this against a team that has three MVP hitters?)
Well, you get the picture.
What sport or other activity do you enjoy together?
