The Role of Sports in my Life (Pt 2)

I came to absolutely all sports.  I was not allowed to participate in organized sports at school or other places when I was young due to my parent's fear "he might get hurt".  I don't know, maybe that kept me from being humiliated.  It was readily apparent the kids in my school had grown up with a much greater familiarity with sports than had I.  They knew the rules, they knew the players, they knew...  well, everything.  I knew pretty much nothing and, being an outcast for other reasons, was not in the circles where I could ask.

But, I did have one avenue for learning no one could deny me.  That was books from the book-mobile which came to our school once a week.  I learned the rules of "the game" there and I delved into the biographies of the greatest players in basketball, baseball and football.  When we could get the ABC TV channel I watched "Wide World of Sports" on Sundays and learned about those sports I would not have otherwise known.  What is called the "Olympic Sports".  This was a long, doggone time before ESPN.

Now, I was never a great (or even good) athlete but I loved playing (and watching).  I watched the New York Yankees growing up and read all about Ruth, DiMaggio and Mantle.  I knew as much about Yankee history as most Yankee fans though I got to see one game a week on TV.  Football was not much to me at the time but I read a book called "Paper Lion" by George Plimpton and that inspired me to take a real interest in that game.  I came to absolutely love football as well.

For a few years an aging star from South America named Pele came to the US to play soccer and he was the most amazing athlete I had ever seen even though he was in the twilight of his career.  Until he retired I always watched Soccer.  I even watched Ice Hockey back when the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders was a big rivalry.  If it was a sport I'd watch it on TV, read about it when I could find a book and play it whenever I could find anyone to play with.

In 1967 we moved back to Nat's Creek and the only TV station we could get was the NBC station from Huntington, WV.  That was the year the Cincinnati Bengals became a part of the American Football Conference and, being the local team, their game was on every Sunday.  So, I became a Bengal Fan as well as a fan of the old AFL.  They played a completely different brand of football than the staid, old NFL.  It was wide open offense and purely nasty defense.  Probably was not a single play on defense in the old AFL where there would not be a personal foul called in today's wussie brand of Football.  Ray Nitschke is turning over in his grave and how "civilized" the game has become.

So that has been the great triumvirate for me.  Kentucky Wildcats, New York Yankees and Cinncinatti Bengals.  And, for a good while I liked the NBA.  Mostly I liked certain players.  First and foremost is Wilt Chamberlain.  The man absolutely changed the game of basketball.  After that was Julius (Doctor J) Erving.  Doc is who Michael Jordan wanted to be when he grew up.  People who think Mikey was the  greatest ever have not seen Wilt or Doc play basketball.

But, as I've grown older, my interest in all pro sports has waned.  I now absolutely despise what the NBA has become and do not watch it or follow it at all.  I'll watch the Bengals if they are on and I'll watch the Yankees if they are on and I like to check the scores but I don't really feel the "fire" any more.

Then there is Kentucky.  UK Basketball and UK Football along with the Lady Cats and the Bat Cats and all the other Cats (including the MANY time world champion cheerleaders) just stands alone to this day as what I love in the world of sports.