What is your Favorite Sport

The majority of members in our communities are fans of some kind of sport, usually more than one. For many fans seeing their favorite sport, or team, in person is a real treat. Unfortunately many factors can keep fans from visiting their local stadium or arena to see a game.

The biggest factor for many is the cost. Tickets aren’t exactly cheap to many sporting events and by the time you combine the costs of parking and something to eat or drink you are out a bunch of money. This problem gets compounded when you have a family because every cost gets multiplied for each person in the household.

Of course many fans save up for their dream trip to see their team, that big playoff game or even a championship game. For these diehard fans they are usually treated to a really memorable experience. Not only are they rewarded by seeing their team compete in person but they can also enjoy visiting a new city. Being able to travel, and see a game, is a combination that many sports fans would cherish.

The Super Bowl has become the premiere one day sporting event. Not only does the Super Bowl crown the champion in the National Football League (NFL) but it has grown into a multiple day festival that can transform the host city.

Fans can flock from all over to see their favorite team playing for the Vince Lombardi trophy or to just go and see the big game in person. Many sports fans are aware of the groups of fans that have attended most of the Super Bowls, regardless of which teams are actually playing in the game.

The Super Bowl has surpassed being a championship game. It has evolved into an economic boost for the host city and advertisers compete to come up with the best commercial, which has evolved into its own attraction. The commercials certainly haven’t eclipsed the popularity of the NFL but a large percentage of our population, who don’t watch NFL games, will watch the Super Bowl; my wife and daughter are part of this group.

Being a huge baseball fan I would love to see a World Series game in person, especially if my team was competing.

The baseball World Series won’t have the same flair that the Super Bowl does because it is not a one game, winner take all event. The World Series is a best of seven series with the winner being the first team to record four victories.

The World Series, unlike the Super Bowl, is not a predetermined location. It will benefit the two teams participating in the games. Both cities are guaranteed a minimum of two games and will get more if the series goes more than four games. Each city can profit from some fans staying in town for multiple days.

Even though baseball is my first love watching the Softball World Series is a treat for me. If you are a passionate fan of baseball, and haven’t seen some college softball games on TV, you are missing out. Not only do these young women play the game with amazing skill and precision but the shear speed of the game is unreal.

The base paths are sixty feet apart, just like Little League, and the fences are usually barely over two hundred feet away from home plate. The pitchers circle is hardly forty feet away from the plate and these pitchers can usually break the seventy mile per hour plateau, throwing underhand!

I played for many years and I can comfortably say that I would be completely embarrassed trying to hit off of these pitchers. In fact some major league players have tried to hit off some of the pitchers from our past Olympic teams and it was very one sided, in favor of the women; I’m not surprised.