Lady Bears Crowned Big 12 Basketball Champs!
March 5, 2011 § 2 Comments
Now this news might not be of much interest to some of you … okay, a LOT of you … but to Baylor Alums it’s GREAT! To Baylor sports fans it’s STUPENDOUS! To me personally it’s FUN!
Lady Bears Rock!
I have either listened or watched every Lady Bear game this season – via my laptop. I am an unashamed Baylor grad with a love of sports – and Baylor sports are my faves!
But basketball isn’t the only sport I like. Many of my colleagues through the years have been surprised by my sports mania. “You LIKE sports?” they ask. “YES!” is always my resounding reply. The guys are particularly surprised by my list of “follows”:
Football – Baylor football, of course, but any college game will do. I’ll even watch pro-ball up to a point. I think I lost interest in the Cowboys when Landry was fired!
Baseball – Yankees against the world! When we moved to Florida from NJ I had withdrawal symptoms. Here we don’t get the YES network (Yankees Entertainment Sports) and have to wait for ESPN or Fox to decide to broadcast the Yankees! Last week, in desperation, Tom and I drove down to Lakeland to watch a spring training game between the Yankees and Detroit. Even as we lost (trying out new players is always iffy!) we reveled in it!
Golf – the Golf Channel is on constantly in our house. I have a 20 handicap myself – not bad for an old duffer! I love watching the ladies play, but The Masters is coming, so you know what I’ll be doing that week!
Soccer – learned to love this game in Brasil, only there we call it futebol! The best broadcasts here in the US are on Univision and in Spanish, but who can’t understand “GOOOOOOL!”?
Let’s see, there’s tennis – the grand slams mostly; gymnastics; and ice skating, of course! Skiing (before arthritis I skied any chance I got!); Track and Field (in-door and out); and anything in the Olympics – even “heel and toe” racing! Don’t forget the Triple Crown in horse racing. You get the picture!
Where did this love of sport come from? My dad! I take you back now to my childhood. I’m in 2nd grade. Every kid in school has a TV but us.
“This house doesn’t get a TV until we get a new piano,” Mom said, and she meant it. At the time David and I were both taking piano lessons and had to practice on a tinny upright. One day Mom came home with the news. She’d bought a new piano, to be delivered the next day.
Now, Dad played golf in those days. When Arnold Palmer and the guys began playing their tournaments on TV he wanted to watch. He was also a baseball fan – Yankees were tops on his list (Texas didn’t have a pro baseball team in the early 50s) but any game was better than none at all!
Before the piano arrived, Dad had bought a TV -Black and White, of course. We had limited broadcasts with only two channels – WBAP in Fort Worth and KRLD in Dallas (or was that WFAA?) – but Dad could hardly wait. Now, on Saturday afternoons he could actually watch sports, not just listen on the radio!
Sarah was too young to care. David was too interested in other stuff. But I loved sitting with Dad and watching the games. He explained the rules, talked about the players, and made popcorn for us to eat – just the two of us … together.
When David went to high school Dad took me to the football games. By then I was an old hand. When Tommy Ryan ran 98 yards for a touchdown on a kickoff return, I predicted it! I knew his stats. I knew his capabilities. I had a crush! Tommy was a member of our youth group at church. He had a steady his own age, but a girl can dream, right?
I think if high schools had encouraged girls to play sports in my day, I might have become a lady jock. Although I didn’t have the depth perception and arm strength needed for basketball or softball, I think I might have been great at golf. But no Title 9 in those days.
Next week the Lady Bears are seeded first in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. After that, we march to the Final 4. The Lady Bears are currently #3 in the nation. I will watch every game possible and wear green and gold. I will pop popcorn and remember the days in the den with Dad.
And then I will go out and play 18!
my other zone 
I used to watch boxing on TV with my Dad on Wednesday nights when I was younger. Mom thought it was awful that I was interested in that sport. My Dad did the same as yours — explained the rules, gave background on the fighters, etc. I knew some of them well for a year or two. Then I moved on to sports I could play — tennis, for one. We skated a lot, too — in northern MN it occupies a lot of the winter! In school we had volleyball, basketball, bowling, tennis, field hockey, and skating. Loved them all! Go lady jocks!
We’re a basketball family—married into a Hoosier family. Go Lady Bears!