Sophia & Sports

Sophia playing soccer with her athletic side of the Family

Sophia's Superbowl plans of 2014 are the same as her recent New Year's Eve plans, the main event will be sleeping. Much of this is due to her 8 month old status, but that cannot be blamed for why I spent Superbowl 2013 doing the same. 

If an interest in sports was a purely genetic phenomenon, Sophia would have a fifty percent chance of inheriting it.

Neither my Father nor my Mother spent much time playing or watching them. Since my Mom went to Ohio State and my Dad to the University of Michigan, they would tease each other about that sports rivalry. In addition my Dad collected baseball cards when he was a kid. That was about the extent of it.

During my own childhood, I liked to be the catcher in T-ball because you got to put on all this neat gear and you had to run the least. To this day I don't think I've run further than the gym class mile at a given time. A brief stint with indoor soccer a few years later was primarily because I wanted to wear shin guards. My best sport however was swimming. When we were doing warm up laps, other kids would literally pass me in the same lane. This created the sensation of someone swimming over you. At the end of the season I received a medal for "tried the hardest", a trend that has amplified in recent years with 'everyone gets a trophy'.

When I watch sports I have two reactions: boredom or anxiety/sadness for the losing team. I have to look away when the camera zooms in on the faces of the team that just lost, but my husband reminds me that they are usually being paid very well. I don't feel a particular allegiance to a team just because they happen to play in the city I am from, and generally would like to see the team win that has previously lost the most.

Joshua on the other hand was on soccer, football, basketball, and track teams. Watching football is one of his favorite things to do. He contends that playing sports teaches valuable lessons such as how to be a part of a team, how to lose well, and how to work towards a goal. If Sophia decides she would like to play sports I hope that she learns all these things. For my part I will try to not worry too much about potential injuries and cheer loudly for her team (even if they are winning).