How Being Hooked Became an Addiction

             

                 Sports Addict

            B.H. Hub

        August 9, 2024       Article 3

You know you’re a Sports Addict when you know that the NHL franchise New Jersey Devils used to be the Colorado Rockies and before that, the Kansas City Scouts!

Still Addicted to This Day

My Sports Addiction kicked into full swing in my youth, but am I still a “Sports Addict” after all these decades? Yes, I am!!

·      I’m addicted to the anticipation of seeing a game!

·      I’m addicted to having a pre-game hot dog (lots of onions) and a beer.

·       I’m addicted to standing and singing the national anthem (its one of the few songs that I know all the words to)!

·      I’m addicted to the roar of the crowd.

·      I’m addicted to the struggle of individual players and a team collectively in winning a game.

·      I’m addicted to watching a players’ glaring mistake.

·      I’m addicted to watching a coach’s poker face expression, when you know that he’s got to be pissed at what he just saw.

·       I’m addicted on not knowing who is going to win a closely contested game.

·      I’m addicted to witnessing an officials’ questionable call – although it pains me.

·      I’m addicted on watching a team that I support (like the Vancouver Canucks) beat up on a team I loathe (like the Edmonton Oilers – although I think that guy Connor McDavid is the best player I have ever seen).

·      I’m addicted to hearing what friends and other spectators say about the sporting event we both just witnessed (how can our observations and opinions be so different?).

·      I’m addicted on the lasting good (sometimes bad) memories that sporting experiences can leave you with (Seattle Seahawks winning the Super Bowl in February 2014 – pure ecstasy)! (Seattle Seahawks losing the Super Bowl in February 2015 on practically the last play of the game – I’m still crying in my beer over that loss)!

So I may have convinced you that I am indeed a Sport Addict. I certainly talk the talk, but as we all know – “Talk is Cheap!” Do I walk the walk? Well, consider this – since the start of calendar year 2024, I have bought a ticket and attended:

·      Pacific FC Soccer matches

·      Whitecaps Soccer matches

·      Phoenix Rising Soccer match (March in Phoenix vs Birmingham Legion FC)

·      Victoria Royals Hockey Games

·      Vancouver Canucks Hockey Games (January vs the Columbus Blue Jackets)

·      Arizona Coyotes Hockey (vs New York Rangers in late March); By the way, the Arizona Coyotes have since left the Phoenix area and will now call Salt Lake City, Utah home. The ownership-management group has yet to give the hockey club a team name. My suggestion to them is to ensure that they embrace themselves to the large demographic in the state, which of course is the Mormon community. With that in mind, the club should name their team the “Utah Polygamists!” I’m sure my recommendation will be well received.

·      ASU Sun Devils basketball (vs Washington State Cougars)

·      Phoenix Suns basketball (vs Toronto Raptors)

·      PGA Waste Management Golf Tournament (this year won by Canadian Nick Taylor).

·      7 Cactus League baseball games played at various MLB spring training facilities in the Phoenix area.

·      Arizona Diamondbacks home opener at Chase Field vs the Colorado Rockies along with 50,000 other spectators.

I’ve not made mention of all the sports I’ve witnessed on television! There is a smorgasbord, a buffet of selection to choose from on the tube that I have watched since the start of this calendar year.

So now you are certain! B.H. Hub is a “Sports Addict!” Non-sports fans will call me obsessive, perhaps misguided, even delusional! It doesn’t bother me, because I don’t like them either!

You can always tell a non-sports fan at a sporting event:

·      They got their ticket for free.

·      They arrive late.

·      They spend what little time they have in their seat, looking at their phone.

·      They stand to exit from their seat in the middle of play so as to annoy everyone in their row and to block the view of everyone in the row behind!

·      When they are not in their seat, they wander around the venue looking for a Starbuck’s Iced Lavendar Cream Oatmilk Matcha (good luck finding that at a hockey rink).

·      And of course, they leave early!

 

My sports addiction for the most part, does not bother anyone else. To steal an old basketball line… “No harm – no foul!” Let’s face it, sports teams rely on guys like me! I’m the guy who buys game tickets. When I get there, I support the venues food & beverage by buying a hot dog and a beer. I may buy some team merchandise and/or a Game Day Program, and most importantly, I’m the guy who tells everyone, that “I had a great time at the game last night – you should have been there!” I, along with many others are an extension of the teams’ sales & marketing department. Every team needs a bunch of dedicated sports fans like me!

 

Am I still a “Sport Addict” after all these decades – You bet I am!

 

Favourite Sports Team Nicknames include – Toledo Mud Hens!