Category: Sports

With no sports yet available in the United States, I’ve fallen back in love with the Marble League, a genuinely interesting, engaging, and exciting set of “athletic” events for — you guessed it — marbles.

I’ve watched the Super Bowl every year for as long as I can remember, and this year was no different. However, this year gave me a slightly different perspective. First, the Patriots were not playing and that was exciting; it’s nice to see an entirely different set of teams competing. Second, I had a conversation with my roommate the day prior that required to contextualize the Super Bowl and its cultural impact.

It’s finally the playoffs for the MLB. It’s an exciting time, particularly since the Twins are finally back in the running, albeit it once again against the Yankees, whom we’ve lost 15 straight playoff games to.

It’s a bit disappointing, and this weekend was rough, but we have another game tonight to try and keep the dream alive. I’m hoping for the best. This is my favorite time of year, and I’d like to be able to enjoy it first-person, rather than by jumping on another bandwagon.

Although I missed another Monday deadline (spring break has really gotten me in disarray), it was for good reason. My parents were visiting in San Diego, and it was fun getting to do some of the more “tourist” type places with people who had fresh eyes for the area.

But more importantly, my dad and I went to Petco Park to watch the Padres. Baseball season is finally back, and it makes me incredibly happy.

For most of my life, the start of baseball season has signaled warm weather, and just a certain reawakening for the year. Although this was much more apparent in Minnesota, even in San Diego I feel warmer weather, think of fresh cut grass, and just get this feeling of joy that not much else is able to provide. Baseball has always been magical. It’s a sport that is easy to engage with, easy to find someone to mess around with, and just has a pristine quality to it that no other sport manages to capture in my mind.

The Super Bowl ended not too long ago. It was an incredibly boring game (especially when compared to last year’s shootout extravaganza.). In a way, that is fitting. I spend a good chunk of time about 7 months out of the year watching baseball. Once baseball is over in early November, I transition to college and professional football. It is less frequent than baseball, but fills the sports-shaped void in my heart well enough.

Now all that is over. It is a dead period of sports for me. This boring game was the perfect transition, since there was no excitement to get hungover on the next morning.

Of course there are other sports, if I cared much about them. For example, NBA and NHL seasons are still ongoing (I think?) and there is of course March Madness in a month. But those have never been events I’ve taken much liking to watching remotely. I do enjoy attending any sporting event in person, but baseball and football are the main American professional sports whose seasons I actually follow.

What I am curious to discover is if my general feelings change being in California as opposed to Minnesota. In Minnesota, winter was always a tough period for sports because I was not a big hockey fan, and there were no other sports one could play outside. Football was theoretically an option, but organizing games becomes increasingly difficult as you get older. Spring and summer were always the best because you could play any sport outside. Whether it was just playing catch, getting a few friends to play soccer or throw a frisbee around, or just play with my own boomerang, spring and summer were always significantly more active for me. Now that I’m in (southern) California, I have less excuses for letting this dead period of sports align with a dead period of fun physical activity for me.

I do expect to be better this year. I recently moved to a new place where there is a fitness center a very short walk from my door. There are some open parks in the area. I have far more options in general than I had during this time of year in Minnesota, and I want to take advantage of that as much as possible. But for now, I guess I just have to wait until March for baseball’s spring training to start up.

I’m moving out to San Diego, and with that move comes a very important question: How wholeheartedly do I join the Padres’ fan-base, and how much do I keep following the Twins?
For any of you who don’t follow baseball, the key thing to know is that as far as future prospects go, this decision feels like a total wash. The Twins do have a bit of a larger group around them, I believe, but the Padres seem to be making a few moves to help things improve. They care about their fans, and are at ease with their current losing situation. Last year when I was in San Diego, they had deal going where you could pay a flat rate (it wasn’t too much) and guarantee at least 10 tickets, and you would get a ticket for every game after that until they won. That is a team aware of their losing, and willing to help bring in fans.
I also think they might have a better stadium. Don’t get me wrong, I love Target Field. I was there on its opening day, and have been to countless games there over the past nine years. But Petco Park (while being as horrifically branded as ours) has a certain distinct charm to it. First, it allows pets in a green area outside of right field. It seems larger, and it is in San Diego. However, the location, and traveling there, is not quite as good. Public transportation in San Diego is rather sparse, and I couldn’t determine a better way to get to the stadium than driving and pre-paying for my parking.
Over time, we’ll have to see how the teams develop. I am more entrenched in the history and culture of the Twins, and in my mind the Padres have none except for Tony Gwynn. Thinking about who to support, what games to go to, and the relative difficulty of going compared to my current experience in the Twin Cities, is a little stressful. Sports, especially baseball, has been a big part of my life since I could walk. Throughout college I had the freedom of disposable income (kind of) and transportation to attend them at my leisure, as long as I had the time. I am not sure if the San Diego sports scene is quite as accommodating.
 
This gets to a bigger question I’ve had in my mind. To what extent does changing states affect my life, my “loyalties” so to speak, and the bridges I have. In an interconnected world, it seems that physical barriers are not quite as important, but they do put forward some stress testing on friendships and what you know about where you are. I am so familiar with Minnesota culture, the Twin Cities and its surrounding suburbs, everything that is available to me. This information has been obtained through years of living here, driving around, growing up in it. How do I reach that level of comfort in a new place, when I don’t know exactly how long I’ll stay? What changes do I make in my activities?
I know there is so much to explore, but at what point does the awe of exploration turn into either familiarity, or complacency? When I was out there last summer, I quickly latched onto safe places where I could be safe bide my time: Starbucks, Panera, and a single hiking trail I walked about 10 times. It took friends and family visiting to go beyond those places, and even then the exploration was minimal. I spent many weekends feeling sick, watching movies in bed, or just going to a local theater in a mall. I was afraid to strike out by myself. I found a minimally comfortable zone, and wished to stay there.
This is what I need to change. I don’t need to change teams, or give up on what I love about Minnesota. I can still have that part of me, while appreciating the new things San Diego has to offer. I will always have a pain in my heart when the Twins lose, even if I support the Padres bandwagon for a while. That doesn’t make things less scary. It will be a long period of adjustment for me, but it something I know I must do.