JANE LEE
Sports Assistant
So here’s the thing. I’m a girl, and I’m a sports fan.
I really don’t try to be a sports fan. It’s just pretty much always been a part of who I am.
When I was a baby, I would sit in my swing and watch basketball with my dad, but rather than dozing off to sleep like most babies would, my eyes would follow the ball back and forth as it went up and down the court.
Thanks to the great voice of celebrated announcer Dick Vitale, the words “March Madness” probably entered my vocabulary list long before anything like “Barbie” or “ballet.”
And when I finally did get my first Barbie, I immediately went out looking for a different outfit for it — an Oakland A’s uniform.
As a first-grader I spent my summer days at the local minor league baseball field, questioning my dad about how many points a team got for a homerun and why girls could not be bat boys.
As a third-grader, I tried to convince anyone who would listen that I would be the first female to play professional football. I must say that my career goals have since changed quite a bit, but it did make for a good idea at the time.
As a fifth-grader, I received my first issue of Sports Illustrated For Kids. You should have seen my excitement when I realized it was even addressed to me.
As a seventh-grader, I began to play every sport imaginable and never went a day without reading the local sports section front to back.
By the time I began high school, I had graduated from Sports Illustrated For Kids to Sports Illustrated. But I made my younger sister pretend she liked the kids one just so we could keep the subscription going.
Since those times in the swing, I have collected more then 300 magazines, newspaper articles and books about sports. I have attended more than 100 sporting events and probably watched five times as many episodes of “SportsCenter.”
Needless to say, I am a true fan of double plays and touchdowns, of hot dogs and peanuts, of Shaq and Tiger, and of Opening Day and the Super Bowl (which I strongly feel need to be named national holidays).
You know you’re a sports fan when your Internet homepage is set to ESPN.com. Or when your mom and sister find you annoying because you switch the channel to “SportsCenter” every time there’s a commercial during “Gilmore Girls.” Or when you have your dad send the latest ESPN Magazine issues to your Pepperdine mailbox every couple of weeks. Or when you plan your weekly schedule around the World Series (and bet money on the games).
Despite what some may think or say, girls can be sports fans just as much as guys.
As a female, I may even find certain athletes attractive, but that doesn’t mean I know more about their looks than about their “makeup” as an athlete.
Take St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Mark Mulder for example. He’s definitely what a girl might call a looker — tall, handsome and, basically, perfect. Google him if you haven’t seen him before. Take it from one who used to plaster her walls with this man.
At the same time, I know that he’s not just everything you look for in a dream husband, but he’s also everything you look for when putting together a fantasy team. Working with a smooth and deceptive delivery, he has five pitches he can throw at any time that keeps hitters guessing until the last minute.
As a female, I can be a fan of both the gorgeous person that is Mark Mulder and the All-Star pitcher that is Mark Mulder. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Nor is there anything wrong or strange about being a girl and a sports fan at the same time. Sure, I may choose to stay in and watch the NBA Finals instead of going out to see the latest movie. And I may choose to read Rick Reilly’s latest column in Sports Illustrated instead of catching up on the latest celebrity gossip in Teen People.
But that’s just part of who I am.
11-03-2005