Top Ten Reasons Why We LOVE Sports: Day Five

#6) The Food – As American’s, we consume a lot of freaking food.  As humans, we consume a lot of freaking food.  We all love food.  Most of the time, food loves us.  As a sports fan, I am not a stinkin’ vegetarian.  That’s just unethical to me.  Don’t get me wrong, I love veggies, as long as they’re smothered in cheese or on my hot dog or burger.  This could be higher on the list of Top Ten Reasons Why We Love Sports, but I choose to put it here at #6 and here’s why.

If you like eating food, you like to eat all the time.  When game day arrives, for me, it’s all about what kind of food do we have.  Whether I'm watching the game at home, at a sports bar, or from the stands, it’s all about the food.  The food starts off all the festivities.  Make sure the nachos are out of the oven before the game starts.  Make sure we got some thick, chunky, spicy salsa.  Do we have enough charcoal to make it through three plus hours of tailgating?  All this and more is why the food is #6.  It’s only the start of great things to come, in particular, the game.

Of course, once the game starts, everyone is most likely full and bloated from eating one too many chili dogs or because they finished off an entire bag of Doritos JACKED.  It’s understandable though.   You can’t watch the game on an empty stomach.  That’s why when halftime or the middle of the fifth inning roll around, you’re ready for more food.  If you’re eating at a stadium, let me tell you, there are certainly some good, good eats there.  Anything involving pretzel bread is like Heaven on Earth.  If it comes with grilled onions, always ask for extra.  And if it happens to be covered in chili, don’t be a wimp and eat it with a knife and fork, not even a Spork.  You man up, or woman up, and eat that sucker with your bare hands!  Just make sure you don’t spill anything down the front of your jersey. 

Now time for my favorite stadium food.  You can get these at probably every single stadium in the United States.  MLS, NBA, NFL, MLB, NCAA, high school, heck, even little league games.  They all have that crappy hot dog.  You know the one I'm talking about.  It comes out of a giant vat of dogs and wrapped in a piece of aluminum foil.  The bun is soggy and you have to pay for the toppings.  Instead of paying for cheese though, you go the free route and slather a gallon of mustard on that dog and you eat it like it’s the best damn hot dog you’ve ever had.  But let’s face it, that is the best damn hot dog.  That hot dog is what makes the game that much more special.

Check in tomorrow for #5. 

Top Ten Reasons Why We LOVE Sports: Day Four

#7) The Stadiums – I am an Ohio State fan.  Ohio State is in the Big Ten and huge stadiums go along with the Big Ten.  I love football stadiums.  100,000 plus people in one place watching a football game, regardless of what the weather is like, is just fantastic.  The beauty of some of the more recent stadiums that have been built is pretty great too.  Look at Cowboys Stadium, now known as AT&T Stadium.  And it’s obvious that the stadium is important to the front office because of these new stadiums being built.  Also, all the upgrades that every stadium gets.  It seems like every single college football season there’s at least ten stadiums that have been overhauled to fit more fans or got a shiny new jumbotron. 

This story isn’t just about football though.  Let’s look at probably the greatest stadium ever built: Circus Maximus.  It was the first super stadium and rightfully so.  Nearly a half mile long and almost 400 feet wide, Maximus held 150,000 people and could have reached a capacity of 250,000.  It was built in Ancient Rome, which explains why it was built.  Ancient Romans loved a good show as evidenced by the Colosseum, another great stadium.  I think it’s fair to say that we have followed in Roman footsteps when it comes to building stadiums.

Football stadiums, check.  Ancient Rome’s stadiums, check.  What else is left?  How about NASCAR?  I'm not a NASCAR fan, but they sure know how to flock people in there.  Who’s ever idea it was to have the motorhome parking in the infield for NASCAR stadiums was a genius.  Those baseball stadiums.  Some of them are the most b-e-a-utiful things I have ever seen.  How about those futbol stadiums?  The stadiums they construct just for the FIFA world cup, they are incredible.  A stadium built for a single event lasting for only 4 ½ weeks?  If that’s not stadium love, I don’t know what is.

Everything that goes along with these great stadiums just adds to the experience.  I mean, the food, the noise, the announcers, they make the stadiums even better.  By the way, one of those is #6, so check in tomorrow to see which one it is.

Top Ten Reasons Why We LOVE Sports: Day Three

#8) The Uniforms – Who doesn’t love it when they get that jersey they’ve been wanting for Christmas or the helmet that’s used as a chip and dip bowl for their birthday.  How about when it was jersey day at school?  Let me tell you, those were my favorite days.  Whenever I got the chance to rock my Emmitt Smith or Chris Spielman jersey, I was ecstatic. 

My first jersey I received though, was a Francesco Totti, club Roma jersey.  That’s right, my first jersey was of an Italian Futboler who I had never heard of.  The story is that my Grandfather went to Italy and decided to get me something.  A Totti jersey seemed to fit the bill.  I don’t remember how old I was when I got, five maybe, but I still have the jersey.  I love that thing.  I’ve never seen Totti play and I don’t know of his stats, but that jersey is special to me.  The first one always is.

Now time to talk about the jersey changes.  It happens all too often, sometimes good, sometimes turrible.  For example, Oregon Football.  I don’t get it.  Something like hundreds or thousands of different combinations.  That’s just ridiculous.  I like it when a team stays old school.  Teams that haven’t changed their uniforms in decades, sometimes centuries.  Uniforms that stand the test of time.  Those uniforms are the best.  Most teams out there don’t have that though, so they decide to suit up in some throwbacks.  Often times, the throwbacks are a combination of brown and yellow, blue and puke orange, or even Creamsicle.  Sometimes though, those throwbacks are just what your team needed and just what you wanted to see.

Whatever type of jersey you like though, I think we can all agree there is a certain love for the uniforms. 

Check in tomorrow for #7.

Top Ten Reasons Why We LOVE Sports: Day Two

#9) The Underdogs – Let’s face it; we used to be the underdogs.  I’m talking as a country.  Way before we knew how great sports were, America was fighting off the Goliath known as Britain.  It’s only natural that we root for the underdogs.  Of course, there is more than just people in the United States reading this so let me explain why we all love the underdogs.

To be an underdog you have to be the favorite to lose going into a game.  As humans, we are often considered only underdogs to Mother Nature, but we have found a way to beat her time and again.  We are the underdogs every single time though.  For those of you who don’t agree, tell me how much you like being rained on, struck by lightning, or having a hurricane come through your home town/state.  It’s because of those very reasons why we love underdogs. 

Just think about it.  The underdog comes in and win the game with all odds against them.  It is the ultimate definition of teamwork.  Look at some of the most recent underdog victories.  Texas A&M over Alabama.  Seattle over Green Bay, albeit with replacement refs. Golden State advances over Denver. The one game Chicago won over Miami in round 2 of the NBA Playoffs.  The 7 seeds advancing in the NHL Playoffs.  And you can’t leave out the always fantastic wins by underdogs in the NCAA Tournament. 

Then there’s the historic underdog wins.  Broadway Joe and the Jets beat Unitas and the Colts in SB III.  The Miracle on Ice.  Whenever Michigan finds a way to lose to incoming underdogs.  For example, Appalachian State in 2007 and Toledo in 2008.  Giants beat the undefeated Patriots in SB XLII.  Y. E. Yang over Tiger Woods.  Let’s never forget when the James Madison Dukes beat Virginia Tech in 2010.  The 2007 Fiesta Bowl.  All of Rocky Marciano’s career.  Hoosiers.  Texas Western.  Jimmy V and the Wolfpack.  Oh yeah, and the most important one, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

They were all great moments.  Moments that will last for a very, very long time.  Thank you Chuck Norris and remember the 5 D’s of Dodgeball: Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, and Dodge. 

Check in tomorrow for #8.

Top Ten Reasons Why We LOVE Sports: Day One

Ask everyone you know why they love sports.  Each person will tell you something different.  You may agree with them.  You may disagree with them.  Really though, it doesn’t matter if we all love sports for different reasons.  As long as our beloved sports still exist, here’s my top 10 reasons why we LOVE them.

#10) The Offseason – Most sports fans probably don’t like the offseason at all, but there really is a lot to love about it.  The biggest is definitely the controversies.  What are players doing in their spare time?  Where do they go on vacation?  Who are they marrying?  Who got arrested?  Who got injured?  Who’s just out there having fun?  Yes, the offseason has many questions.  You can’t tell me though that watching Kevin Durant play a little streetball isn’t the greatest thing ever.

Or maybe you just enjoy seeing how your favorite team is preparing for next season.  It could be anything from seeing those crazy college coaches entice those pesky recruits to play for them or hearing how your favorite NFL QB is organizing some team activities.   And of course there is the coveted draft.  If you’re into that sort of thing, the draft is probably the peak of the offseason, but not for me.  After the draft comes free agency.  A player basically chooses who he wants to play for and you’re hoping it’s your team.

You can’t talk about the offseason and not mention how stupid players can be though.  It’s why some of you hate the offseason.  You just want the players to play and coaches to coach and games to be won.  I couldn’t agree with you more; however, it is nice to see some justice to be served to some of those idiots.

Alas, this is only #10, so make sure to check in tomorrow for the #9 reason why we love sports.