Confessions of a Sports Fan

I'm a sports fan. I love watching sports. And playing it on my PS2. Specifically, I love watching NBA, F1, WWE, and WRC. And I am loyal to individuals, not the teams.

Sadly I've noticed that I can't seem to be a good judge of character. I always end up rooting for those who can't seem to grasp greatness. Those who have the talent but not the drive to succeed. What do I mean? Well let me give some examples.

My NBA interest started in first year high school. We just got cable. Hakeem and the Rockets were beating Ewing and his Knicks. I suddenly became a basketball card collector. No real NBA idols as of yet. Then I got a rare Joe Smith Tower of Power card. Thus he became the first NBA player I rooted for. Rookie of the year, power forward. He was great. Amazing. My classmate said Garnett was better but I said no, Joe Smith is the truth. Now look who's right.
Second year high school came along and I became fascinated with Grant Hill's game. Smooth. Complete. Dominating. Of course we all know what happened once he moved to Orlando.

But after Hill (and before he moved to Orlando) my focus shifted to the Washington Bullet's Chris Webber. Up to now I still look up to him. But what happened with the Bullets? He got traded. To Sactown. Of course, since I was loyal to the player and not the team, I started rooting for Sacramento since he was there. We all know what he did with the Kings and how he got traded to Philly. Now they're thinking of waiving him. Oh well.

Then it was Lamar Odom. Then Carmelo Anthony. Odom got suspended twice in two seasons for substance abuse and Anthony got caught with marijuana in his bag and has done lots of controversial things. Go figure.

But that doesn't stop in the NBA. Also in F1. I was a Williams-BMW fan. Not because of the car but because of Ralf Schumacher. Yep, I'm a Schumacher fan. Just not the right Schumacher. I mean, yeah Michael's amazing but I root for his kid brother more. What happens? Turns out young Ralf is happy to bask in the Schumacher last name and just drive in mediocrity. Sure he's won a couple of races, but only because he's led them early on. Once he gets in the middle or faces a hard challenge, what does he do? He just drives on. No passion, no killer instinct. No risk-taking.

Maybe it reflects a lot on me. These guys I've idolized all seem to have little or no killer instinct. No superhuman drive to succeed. I mean sure they're all driven. But not much. The only reason they are where they are is because of luck of the draw. Oh well.