I’m a big football fan. LOVE the Packers. I’m also pretty nutzy for the chronically mediocre Brewers, but I was born and raised in the early 80s when they were great and can’t help but love them.
Anyway, I’m a woman and a sports fan. But my fiancee… he’d rather go to the dentist than a Packers game. He’s just not into sports.
I’m wondering if there are other couples like us? Any one else who breaks the stereotype of the woman cooking while the man screams about the botched field goal? (In fact, he usually is making dinner while I’m watching the game, if it’s a late afternoon game.) I’m hoping I’m not odd for this. It’s a fine dynamic. He gets to watch movies read or try new and complicated recipes while I shout about why the Bengals are still tied with us, despite us being able to drastically limit Ochocinco’s impact on their offense. God I love the Packers.
My 59 year old mother with a doctorate would be tempted to punch someone in the face if they insulted her beloved Dallas Cowboys. It is hard to be in the same house as her when one of their games is on because she screams at the top of her lungs, dances around, and occasionally even throws stuff. My stepfather isn’t anti-sports per se but he just doesn’t care that much. He knew that was part of the package going in.
I should have known better than to say that we were keeping Ochocinco down. I hate to say it, but he’s been having an amazing half. And we all know it’s because I said we were keeping him down. The arrogant jerk even did a Lambeau Leap… and he managed to find the only Bengals fans in the end zone so he wouldn’t get shoved back on his arse.
When I first met my husband, he had no interest in sports. He had never watched a minute of football in his life and he didn’t feel the loss. I was stunned, and I remember telling him two things. First, on Sundays from August until the end of January, I watch football. That’s not negotiable. He could watch it with me for find another way to occupy his time but I would not tolerate any bitching about it because that was just the way it was. Second, we’re a Denver Broncos family. He didn’t have to like the Broncos, but no making obnoxious “Broncos suck” comments while I’m trying to watch my game!
He was agreeable to that, and that season the Broncos beat the Falcons in the Super Bowl. That was the first game he paid attention to and gradually became more and more interested. I wouldn’t say that he’s as big a fan as I am (his entire well being and happiness doesn’t hinge on the result of the weekly Broncos game) but he sure knows a lot about the sport and regularly does great in his pick 'ems league (he can’t beat me yet, but he’s only been watching for 10 years!).
I’ve always been amused by the number of women on online dating sites who say they absolutely love football in their 2 paragraph listing. I don`t doubt that most of them are telling the truth about enjoying football, but I always wonder how many of them would choose to mention it in a very short self description were they not trying to attract men.
I can’t stand watching sports, even ones I enjoy playing. It just bores the shit out of me. Of course, I wouldn’t shy away from a woman just because she did. But when someone has an opportunity to tell a complete stranger maybe 5 things about herself and one of them is that she loves football my reaction is “uh oh, I think this girl is a little too into watching sports for me”.
I’ve always suspected that most of those women are exagerating because they think it’ll appeal to men. On the other hand, most men do enjoy watching sports so it’s probably pretty effective except that 75% of all online dating profiles for women say they love football.
Lots of females are very serious about it although I doubt all of them are. I have tons of female (professional) coworkers, friends, and family members that are fanatics about professional sports. It is pretty common in the Boston area which is sports central. They aren’t lying. They have the clothing, the memorabilia, know the stats, and a few of the richer ones either have regular tickets or season tickets. Female friends have taken me to games and coached me on the subtleties as to what is going on particularly with the Red Sox. I don’t see why that would be hard to believe.
I’m a baseball/football fan, and I’ve been seeing a guy who doesn’t have a clue about sports. Since the current NCAA and NFL seasons started, he’s repeatedly made fun of how I’m at my place watching football and he’s at home watching some cartoon or non-manly TV show.
Because many expressions are sports terms, he knows some terminology, but often isn’t sure which sports they belong to. Fortunately for me, he thinks it’s hot that can define “calling an audible” and stuff like that.
My user name says it all. I’m a girl and I’m addicted to hockey. I met my sweetie through a Craigslist ad and the first time we ever laid eyes on each other was at a Carolina Hurricanes game. He coincidentally sat in the same section as me about 4 rows down. I had passed him on the way up to my seat all season long. Now we have seats together.
I’m watching football right now. I enjoy watching the game itself and don’t really care who wins.
The Mister and I both love hockey (Go Wings!), but I’m the only one that likes football. Like Pepperlandgirl, I explained the Every Saturday In The Fall rule (College fan) early into our relationship.
If I could only name 5 things about myself on a dating site, that would be one of them. It’s not that I’m trying to draw more men, it’s because that’s what I enjoy, and would hope to meet someone else to enjoy it with me.
One of my very favorite things to do, besides actually going to the game, is to sit in the bar with friends and watch sports. Luckily, my man likes to do the same thing.
As a matter of fact, we were just talking the other day about my idea of the perfect Saturday we once had:
U of M football followed by Tennessee Vols football finishing up with Red Wings hockey. I had some serious bar stool butt, but I still remember that day with great fondness!
I am (happily) not in a relationship now, but I’ve never dated anyone who was nuts about baseball the way I am. I wouldn’t be opposed to having a baseball loving guy as long as he wasn’t a Red Sox fan. That’s a dealbreaker.
For the first time in my life, I am currently dating a guy who’s as nuts about the Indians as I am. Our best dates have been at Indians games. But, for the 10+ years before that, I think I went to two baseball games with guys I was dating. Lame!
He doesn’t get into the Browns or the Buckeyes like I do, although I’m not a rabid fan. More like a “this is what I do on Saturdays and Sundays in the fall” sort of fan. If we got to the point where we were living together I’m sure he’d just sit and watch, but not be too bored or offended. I think his best friend is into football.
My best girl friend is crazy about the Tribe, and a Browns fan (by default, like me). Her husband wasn’t anti-sports when they got married, he just was never exposed to it. He knows she loves the Indians so he buys her lots of tickets and they go to lots of games together. They even watch football on Sundays. It’s sometimes weird and annoying to watch games with him because he’s such a new fan…but kudos to him for getting into it.
Oh, boy! If you only knew what a sports fan my wife is. She fought for, and won, the right to play football on the boy’s team in junior high. Played basketball in college. Plays softball all summer. And we watch it all on TV.
Me, I’m sort of meh about sports. But we watch them together. And I will go to a couple games a year. But she knows I would rather not.
She has a group of women from softball that travel to games. Last weekend they went to the OSU (Oregon State) game in Las Vegas, last night the OSU home game in Corvallis.
And today we had to watch the Steelers. The Steelers…don’t get me started on the Steelers. Want some Steelers memorabilia? We got a whole spare room full.
I’m just now getting out of a 10-year marriage where my wife had zero interest in sports. It was almost worse because she fully understood sports, the rules, some of the intracacies, etc. It just did nothing for her. The hardest part about it is that she just couldn’t understand my fanaticism. It didn’t make sense to her that she could hear me jumping up and down from the other side of the house when I was watching my beloved Dodgers on TV.
I love my wife dearly and certainly never would have considered that a deal breaker, but if I date again, I may actually make that a pre-requisite. I don’t care if someone I’m with likes the same teams; I just want someone who gets it.
My experience has been that while most women don’t follow sports altogether, the few that do tend to be hard core fanatics. And I know several women who went from not caring at all straight to hard core fanatic status and then back to not caring at all, with no middle stage.
Possibly it’s related to emotional issues generally.
I love football. Grew up watching it with my mom and dad. My mom is a huge fan–much more so than any of the men in my family. I’m lucky enough that my husband enjoys it, too, though he ususally ends up yelling at the Bucs. I’ve learned to enjoy watching basketball and NASCAR for my husband’s sake. Neither of us is crazy about baseball, though we enjoy watching the playoffs and the series, and attend the occasional Rays game. Neither of us have a clue about hockey, but we still jumped at a chance to see the Lightning for free.
In the end, this is how it goes: Sunday afternoon, my wife watches two or three soccer games on the television, and I’m in the kitchen cooking.
My wife loves soccer. She goes for her favorite (Mexican) team naturally, but she’ll watch whatever soccer is on. Oh, and it’s world cup soccer elimination season, so there’s a lot of soccer. Aside from that, she likes basketball and baseball, and she’ll watch important games on TV, but not every game in a season.
Me? I like hockey, but don’t watch the Wings religiously until near the end of the regular season. I like (American) football, but I’m a Lions “fan,” so I don’t usually bother watching. I can’t stand soccer on television, although its bearable in the stadium. Basketball I can’t stand at all, and I usually go talk to someone else whenever the subject of collegiate athletics comes up in conversations.
My wife doesn’t like hockey (“can’t see the puck”), and just doesn’t get the genius that is American football, although she seems to have a good time when we go to the Joe or to Ford Field. To be fair, I take her to Comerica Park and the Palace, where she enjoys herself, and a few $8 eventually cause me to enjoy myself.
Hoping to have a chance to take her to the Estadio Azteca one of these days, although her team doesn’t play there, it might be nice, since we’re close for the time being.
