Whether it is an officially recognize addiction I’m not sure, but I may be over binging on sports at times.
At least that tends to be the vibe I get from my far better half who I often glimpse looking my way with the look on her face that only wives can pull off – married men will know the look I am talking about.
Now admittedly that only occurs when a game is playing on the television, and I have an ear bud in so I can listen to the game I am also watching on my notebook. To be truthful I only watch games on my notebook because my better half has repeatedly kiboshed my suggestions I install a second TV screen for sport viewing.
Now in my defence, a defence which is about as thin as the Toronto Maple Leaf’s last season, I shouldn’t be blamed for the amount of entertaining sports that someone can access on the computer these days.
The list of online sports I watch on a regular basis is rather long including in season the National Lacrosse League, Major Arena Soccer, American Ultimate Disc League, National Pro Fastpitch and well you get the idea. There are a bunch of professional sport leagues that national sports networks in Canada ignore in favour of hockey and football re-runs and sports from other countries, which are thankfully viewable online.
But, my affliction does seem to be spreading. When I hit times in the year, August being one of the months it happens, when the leagues mentioned above are into their offseason I go looking for online options.
Typically at such times I become something of a honeybee flittering from one sport broadcast to another.
There are a huge number of sports out there, and when it comes to team sports there are only a handful I don’t like to watch, soccer although I try, water polo and a few others. So there are a couple of dozen team sports that I do like, although without pro leagues in North America, and preferably Canadian teams to follow, my interest is fleeting.
So I’ll watch the occasional sepak takraw game, marvel at the foot skills of the players, and wish there was at the very least English commentary of games, and dream there was a pro league here. After a game, or two, my interest wanes and the next night my search renews.
At times I’ll watch arena football and again lament no team in Canada.
Or I watch team handball and question how it is not as popular in North America as it is in Europe.
At other times it’s marvelling at Irish hurling or Scottish camanachd.
This weekend I watched a couple of 2018 World Cup games in men’s field hockey. I’ll say that the shoot-out in the sport is the most entertaining in sport with shooters allowed to play rebounds having up to eight seconds to score. As a sport, two games under my belt, I’m not sure how I feel. There is an international league, no Canada sadly, which is viewable for a fee of about $25 a year. Is it worth it? I have until January to decide.
And tonight, or tomorrow, who knows what my affliction will lead me to discover? But, the search will be fun as a lover of sport.
