Confessions of a Sports Hater by a Sports Writer

By: Erica Deliz

Posted: 5/5/07

I am a girl. And although I am not always a typical one, there is one thing I share with the rest of them: stereotypically, we all hate sports.
I own one football jersey. Yet if I had to point out Mr. Testaverde in a crowd, I wouldn't be able to do it.
I have watched a handful of Tampa Bay Buccaneer games. I've stood up when they made a touch down and at one point I even knew a couple of players' names. But it wasn't for me. It was all to impress a boy I was mad about in high school.
Last but not least, I am one of those Yankee fans who dust off that jersey in October when my pinstriped boys are in the World Series. Sorry, I would rather hear Steven Tyler belt out "Love in an Elevator" then see Derek Jeter hit five homers out of the park. Sue me.
But before you roll your eyes and murmur under your breath about all females being the same, in my defense, I wasn't always like this. I liked baseball and basketball. So what made me change my mind?
My first memory of these two sports would be playing them with my gramps in my grandparents' backyard. I'll admit it wasn't much of a game, and baseball was pretty much impossible, but we made it work. Before I knew it, my brother had joined in on the festivities.
It wasn't about winning or losing, it was about spending time with the people you loved. There were no managers asking for obscene amounts of money, no dress codes, and there were no threats and rumors of steroid use.
How ridiculous is it that the powers that be in Major League Baseball actually made a rule that anyone caught using steroids will be suspended from 50 games without pay?! Things have gotten so bad among the players that it has forced such a threat to be made. Why would a player risk it all for steroids?
The reason is it's not about the love of the game anymore. It's about the money that can be potentially earned with a win. It's not enough to make a million. Players want two million, and so on. It's about greed and fame.
As for basketball, things have gotten so bad with the players that the NBA has implemented a dress code. No jewelry, chains, or head gear are to be worn on the job. Shouldn't that be common sense? I don't go to work looking like Britney Spears, so why should these players go to work dressed like Snoop Dogg?
All these outrageous rules prove the point that sports has lost what made it magical- its innocence. That's the one thing that made sports enjoyable for me: The feeling that, "If he could hit a homerun maybe I can too." But that feeling won't come back if the player was hopped up on steroids when he did it.
Yes, I am a girl and I do not like sports, but it's not my gender that makes me turn the channel when it's on.
Maybe when the heroes of sports return and the spirit of the game returns, just maybe I'll actually become a fan. Until then, I will save my $244.50 (the price of a seat at a basketball game, right above the floor, not even on the floor.) and get front row tickets to the concert of my choice.
It is money better spent.
- Erica Deliz