I’ve never considered myself to be a sports enthusiast.
I’ve always dutifully cheered for the family team – Go Broncos! – but my enthusiasm has rarely advanced past that.
My dad and I have a standing date each year, however, for the Army/Navy football game. On that day, the house is fully dedicated to the consumption of many hours of football and pre-game coverage. Yells of encouragement are directed at the television and cats are constantly removed from in front of the television, lest we miss an important pass or penalty.
Other than that, I can give or take sports.
I’m not even that enthusiastic about any of the sports teams in Georgia. I know, blasphemy.
But recently, however, I have discovered an obsession with winter sports.
Upon switching from a cable television to an online streaming service, my channel selection has increased.
One of my new favorite channels is the Olympic Channel, a channel I never previously had access to without having to pay to view.
The channel is currently featuring winter sports, and constantly runs from one sport to the next, so you’re never bored.
I’d only previously watched winter sports when the Olympics aired every four years, but remember enjoying the sports I managed to catch in the evening, as they covered different sports all day long.
Recently, the Olympic Channel has been our go-to channel each evening and is often the channel we turn to when we do not know what else to watch.
Our favorite sports to watch are Bobsled, Ski Jumping, Super G, Downhill, Giant Slalom, and Figure Skating.
When I first began watching the events, I had no absolutely no clue what was going on or how judges scored. I was just in it for the entertainment. Now, we find that we are automatically tracking the breakdown of the scores, speeds, and penalties as we watch. It drives my other family members crazy.
I haven’t quite figured out the concept of curling yet, but I’m convinced that with time, I’ll become a curling expert.
Who am I kidding? I’ve been watching curling for weeks now and have no more clue what’s going on than I did when I started. But it is entertaining.
I’ve come so far with my recent exposure to many new winter sports, I joke that I may now have a future as a sports commentator.
On other sports channels, I’ve also begun watching a number of sports I’d never considered watching previously. I have spent many an evening tuning into bowling, disc golf, spike ball, and even axe throwing.
Another new favorite is bull riding. Although I worry about the riders that get bucked off and nearly trampled, I root more for the bulls than anything else. They’ve got fancy names like Holy Moly, Freckles, Locomotive Breath, Hocus Pocus, Wild Onion, and Chicken on a Chain. Cool names, right?
Not only are the riders tracked and scored, but the bulls are as well. I looked up the bull standings online and got lost in pages of stats. And then I quickly got distracted by all the funny names.
I can’t tell you exactly where this newfound love of sports comes from, but I suspect it’s yet another byproduct of spending more hours in the house than we spend outside of the house.
Not only do these sports offer an exposure to new concepts and techniques, but these sports allow you to travel (in a way) to different areas around the world and see the amazing places where these sports take place.
It’s also fun to become more familiar with the individuals competing that may end up at a future Olympics. You never know.
Erin Lopez recently graduated from Georgia College & State University with a Mass Communication major and too many minors. She loves to read, binge Netflix shows, and spend lots of time with her five cats.
