Hockey, and Why I Don’t Like Following Sports

Ever since the semester has ended and I’ve moved back home, I’ve been watching hockey games. More specifically, I’ve been watching the game whenever my team, the Chicago Blackhawks, is playing. I watched them beat the Vancouver Canucks and I watched them sweep the San Jose Sharks (that one was particularly satisfying as one of my friends is a diehard Sharks fan). Now the Hawks are against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup finals and I’m suddenly being reminded of why I have steadfastly avoided following sports my entire life.

It’s stressful being a hockey fan! You are glued to the game, pulse racing with every move, afraid to breathe whenever either team is about to score, bellowing in frustration whenever the other team scores, cheering with joy whenever your team scores… the tension, anticipation, anxiety and unadulterated joy when it comes to sports is really unparalleled. More often than not I’ve found myself alternating between wanting to cover my eyes at the truly tense moments (usually whenever either team is about to score) and not being able to take my eyes off the game. (I realize that wanting to close my eyes is silly because those moments can be part of the best or worst moments of the game.)

Part of the reason why I’ve become interested in hockey recently is that it’s just a fun game to watch. I’ve tried watching numerous sports over the years and the only ones I’ve found interesting are AFL¹ and hockey. (My friends that are fanatics about American sports will be disappointed to hear that American football and baseball are among the sports that bore me to death.) I’ve been able to pick up a surprising amount about hockey in such a short amount of time, both in terms of how the game is played as well as background about the Hawks players. Also, it is not a bad time to start watching hockey when your team wins the Western Conference and has a 50/50 chance of winning the Stanley Cup. Just putting that out there.

But yes. Even though I don’t like following sports in general, and even though I’ve discovered it is very stressful towards my health to start becoming a hockey fan, and even though last night’s overtime against the Flyers in Game 3 almost killed me…

GO HAWKS!

1. I’m a West Coast Eagles fan and yes, I know they are doing horribly but I don’t care. [↩]

Cross-posted from breakthesky.net. Please leave any comments there.