When I was four, my parents signed me up for soccer. They got me a nice pair of cleats, shin pads that were a little uncomfortable, and a jersey in a weird shade of shiny green with a big 4 on the back. At the first game of the season, no one passed me the ball so I cried and chose not to move unless my dad was holding my hand. I lasted just that game.
Understandably, I was scarred for life after such blatant neglect from my “teammates,” so I decided sports – all sports – were unimportant. Learning just how athletically impaired I was in high school only made my distaste stronger, until I was 19 and my mom convinced me to watch the whole baseball season that summer (and fall, because the Blue Jays were good that year).
Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t boycotting sports. My dad is a huge insert any Toronto team here fan so I grew up watching hockey, basketball, baseball and the like – even European football and the NFL. I just didn’t like any of it. But that summer of baseball… man, that was a good summer.
I realized sports are a lot more enjoyable when you’re not being ignored or learning just how bad you are at shooting a basketball. I also realized they’re a lot more enjoyable when I actually understand what’s going on and am not making my dad miss one of Buck Martinez’s jokes by asking him constant questions. So I decided that now that I’ve got the “liking” part down, I should get the “knowing” part down.
Rookie Review is a blog made for people like me. We are the people who want to support their city’s sports teams but don’t know why Maple Leafs fans groan when the referee sticks his hand in the air even though everyone’s still playing – and sometimes they cheer! What? In all honesty, I know what this means now but if you don’t, visit my blog.
I make weekly posts with the biggest Toronto sports news from the previous seven days – games, trades, injuries, management etc. – and I write them in a way we can all understand. Lingo? No problem. Statistics? Explained. Rules? In plain old English. My aim with this blog is to educate myself and anyone else who wants join me. I may not get everything right. I may forget to include something. I may not even be able to post every week because, you know, life. I just want there to be one place where people can come to learn something new and even ask questions.
Visit https://therookiereviewblog.wordpress.com and stay tuned for posts about Toronto Football Club, Maple Leafs, Raptors, Blue Jays, Argos, the Rock, and the Wolfpack.
And for everyone out there playing sports and hating it, do a couple of sit-ups to stay fit and just watch the pros on TV. It’s so much more enjoyable.
