I started off my day yesterday by telling the older girl “stop being a tattletale.” So everything is going great. On the scale of “things I’ll never do as a parent,” I think I’m about a week away from breaking the glass on “because I said so.”
I don't really have a favorite pro team, but I am a rabid Hokie fan. My wife is a Washington Football Team fan. My oldest is seven and is starting to enjoy watching football with us. Every fall weekend I fully expect Social Services to break down our door and take away our kids for what we are doing to them.
I've had a similar crisis of conscience this year. I'm a rabid Carolina Panthers fan. The team is weapons grade butt and will be for some time. People keep buying my baby panthers swag and I feel bad about it. Feels like I'm saddling her with my least healthy relationship.
I might go on for a bit here, but bear with me. I’m a Chiefs fan (I know, sorry) since my dad’s from the KC area. KC isn’t in the realm of Cleveland sports disappointment, but the Chiefs alone have their own history of letdowns, and generally just being bad for years at a time. Still, I grew up in Louisville and I remember calling the hotline to vote for which NFL game got aired that weekend, voting for the Chiefs as much as possible. Last year, they finally did the thing, and I made sure my dad was with me to watch that game. And let me tell you, I wouldn’t trade that day for anything. My six-year-old is in the same place as your 5-year-old now and honestly, one of the things I get excited for in the future are the shared experiences of watching our teams together. It’s something I just generally have good memories doing with my family growing up and what I hope to do with my own family now. I guess all I’m trying to get at is the road is so worth it. The Browns will get there, and trust me you’re going to remember the excitement on your kids’ faces more than the game itself.
This summed up the regular conversation at my house with my 7-month pregnant wife... our hometown allegiances are the Texans and Falcons, and neither of us likes the local Titans. We've resigned ourselves to just let Junior pick out whatever team is good when he gets to the right age, as we can't, in good conscience, force either of our allegiances on him. Our college teams aren't any better, and as noted, those guys don't even get paid!
I have a different twist on this article. I am a third-generation Gator and grew up living and dying on what happened on Saturdays. Also, the only good in the college football universe were the Gators (I'm thinking of Rudy's dad on the Indiana-Purdue game).vv
Being mid-30s, I have been lucky to grow up watching my team win 3 titles and be fairly competitive for my whole life (sometimes more than others) so I am not particularly worried about quite the same problem as introducing my kids to a lifetime of misery (although that being said, I don't think we are reaching the highs of the Spurrier or Urban days anytime soon).
In my younger days, I used to scoff at people who were able to compartmentalize, get over losses instantly, and claim that it was just a game. Or people that rooted for multiple teams and had multiple team shirts (mumble mumble bandwagon). I was never going to be that person and my house would continue my, for lack of a better phrase, Gator supremacist beliefs.
Now, having kids, and the benefit of some more age and travel, I am the opposite of that and I am hoping to pass this newer version of me on to my kids. I have multiple team shirts (some even of other SEC schools to my dad's displeasure), watch other games at the same time as the Gator game (2 TV set up for the Fall is essential), and generally am ok if we lose.
My kids are still too young to actively watch with me (they're 4 year old twins), but my daughter and son proudly know several non-Gator affiliated cheers and hand singals (from Row the Boat to Gig Em Aggies to Forks Up) and I hope to continue that general love for sports, the weirdness, and the healthy attitude of just enjoying being together and watching each Saturday. That is the thing that I swore I would never do as a parent and I am 100% glad that I did
(my kids and I will still loathe Florida State and Georgia...that is a bridge too far to cross in my new expanded fandom).
Yeah, I can't live and die with it the way I did Cleveland baseball as a young teen. I want it to be fun. But to your last point, there will never be cheering for the Steelers, Ravens, or Wolverines under my roof.
What a fine newsletter today, Scott. Yours is a lucky kid, may I say. Don't be embarrassed, it's true. About the game: I am a fairly new NFL fan and I really don't understand all the rules, and how the same thing is OK at one point and not OK at another. Confusing and inconsistent. Here's another observation from a relative outsider: They should eliminate the farting around with timeouts to run down the clock at the end. It destroys the integrity of the game IMO. I'll shut up now.
As the New Englander, I’m going to keep quiet knowing that we have been absolutely spoiled these past 20 years and know that there is a looming darkness on the horizon.
Listen, I was happy for you all when the Patriots upset the Rams in '01, and when the Red Sox finally made it happen in '04, but I think we can all agree you went too far after that.
I started off my day yesterday by telling the older girl “stop being a tattletale.” So everything is going great. On the scale of “things I’ll never do as a parent,” I think I’m about a week away from breaking the glass on “because I said so.”
On Saturday I pulled a:
"Hey, do you want (x) for dinner?"
"No."
"Okay, turn your tablet off then."
"Fine, I'll eat it."
"That's right, you will."
Really felt like a new stage.
"Daddy, it’s okay that our team lost. I liked watching with you."
To quote Zeke from Bob's Burgers, "He got me! I'm doing it. Goog god I'm crying."
This isn't exactly the point but Zeke is my absolute favorite character on that show. Kills me every time.
I don't really have a favorite pro team, but I am a rabid Hokie fan. My wife is a Washington Football Team fan. My oldest is seven and is starting to enjoy watching football with us. Every fall weekend I fully expect Social Services to break down our door and take away our kids for what we are doing to them.
I feel this in my bones.
I've had a similar crisis of conscience this year. I'm a rabid Carolina Panthers fan. The team is weapons grade butt and will be for some time. People keep buying my baby panthers swag and I feel bad about it. Feels like I'm saddling her with my least healthy relationship.
I might go on for a bit here, but bear with me. I’m a Chiefs fan (I know, sorry) since my dad’s from the KC area. KC isn’t in the realm of Cleveland sports disappointment, but the Chiefs alone have their own history of letdowns, and generally just being bad for years at a time. Still, I grew up in Louisville and I remember calling the hotline to vote for which NFL game got aired that weekend, voting for the Chiefs as much as possible. Last year, they finally did the thing, and I made sure my dad was with me to watch that game. And let me tell you, I wouldn’t trade that day for anything. My six-year-old is in the same place as your 5-year-old now and honestly, one of the things I get excited for in the future are the shared experiences of watching our teams together. It’s something I just generally have good memories doing with my family growing up and what I hope to do with my own family now. I guess all I’m trying to get at is the road is so worth it. The Browns will get there, and trust me you’re going to remember the excitement on your kids’ faces more than the game itself.
Thank you!
And for the record I was excited for the Chiefs last year. I hope Mahomes can come back this weekend, because that'll be a great game with Buffalo.
can't wait to drink muni lot beers with him in 2035.
Waiting until he's of legal drinking age? I didn't realize you were a fed.
That's my bad for not knowing his birthday.. I thought that pegged him at 20.
Oh, it does. I was just assuming you were off by a year. Anyways, the kid's got Cleveland in his blood, he'll be there by 2031.
nope. figured he'd be in college and be able to handle himself. not a chance in hell I'd take a kid in high school down there.
This summed up the regular conversation at my house with my 7-month pregnant wife... our hometown allegiances are the Texans and Falcons, and neither of us likes the local Titans. We've resigned ourselves to just let Junior pick out whatever team is good when he gets to the right age, as we can't, in good conscience, force either of our allegiances on him. Our college teams aren't any better, and as noted, those guys don't even get paid!
This was wonderfully written and heartfelt but I'm still not going to let my future offspring be Jets fans
No, yeah, that's probably a good call.
I have a different twist on this article. I am a third-generation Gator and grew up living and dying on what happened on Saturdays. Also, the only good in the college football universe were the Gators (I'm thinking of Rudy's dad on the Indiana-Purdue game).vv
Being mid-30s, I have been lucky to grow up watching my team win 3 titles and be fairly competitive for my whole life (sometimes more than others) so I am not particularly worried about quite the same problem as introducing my kids to a lifetime of misery (although that being said, I don't think we are reaching the highs of the Spurrier or Urban days anytime soon).
In my younger days, I used to scoff at people who were able to compartmentalize, get over losses instantly, and claim that it was just a game. Or people that rooted for multiple teams and had multiple team shirts (mumble mumble bandwagon). I was never going to be that person and my house would continue my, for lack of a better phrase, Gator supremacist beliefs.
Now, having kids, and the benefit of some more age and travel, I am the opposite of that and I am hoping to pass this newer version of me on to my kids. I have multiple team shirts (some even of other SEC schools to my dad's displeasure), watch other games at the same time as the Gator game (2 TV set up for the Fall is essential), and generally am ok if we lose.
My kids are still too young to actively watch with me (they're 4 year old twins), but my daughter and son proudly know several non-Gator affiliated cheers and hand singals (from Row the Boat to Gig Em Aggies to Forks Up) and I hope to continue that general love for sports, the weirdness, and the healthy attitude of just enjoying being together and watching each Saturday. That is the thing that I swore I would never do as a parent and I am 100% glad that I did
(my kids and I will still loathe Florida State and Georgia...that is a bridge too far to cross in my new expanded fandom).
Yeah, I can't live and die with it the way I did Cleveland baseball as a young teen. I want it to be fun. But to your last point, there will never be cheering for the Steelers, Ravens, or Wolverines under my roof.
What a fine newsletter today, Scott. Yours is a lucky kid, may I say. Don't be embarrassed, it's true. About the game: I am a fairly new NFL fan and I really don't understand all the rules, and how the same thing is OK at one point and not OK at another. Confusing and inconsistent. Here's another observation from a relative outsider: They should eliminate the farting around with timeouts to run down the clock at the end. It destroys the integrity of the game IMO. I'll shut up now.
Thank you! And yes, I'm going to stew over the "fumble through the endzone is a touchback" rule for a while.
As the New Englander, I’m going to keep quiet knowing that we have been absolutely spoiled these past 20 years and know that there is a looming darkness on the horizon.
Listen, I was happy for you all when the Patriots upset the Rams in '01, and when the Red Sox finally made it happen in '04, but I think we can all agree you went too far after that.
Hey now. The Bruins have won only one Stanley Cup since 1972 and... uhh... the Revolution have yet to win an MLS cup. We’re still a wee bit tortured.