How Do I Get Into Watching Sports?: A Q&A

Introduction: For my next post, I wanted to write about something that is a broad sports subject and something that everyone could relate to, even if they are brand new to sports and are just wanting to get into watching it. With that being said, I kind of wanted to go back to the beginning of my "sports watching journey", think of how I got started watching, and give my advice and tips of how to get into watching sports. The best way I thought of doing this, is by doing a Q&A, where I come up with questions myself and then of course, give my answers to the best of my ability. Some questions will be about my personal sports watching experience, while others I will try to make the questions broad and give the best advice I can. I hope everyone finds this article helpful, as I should have written something like this a long time ago, as this idea came into my mind recently.

Q: How Did You Get Into Watching Sports?

A: I began watching sports at a very young age. I grew up in a family who loved sports and still loves sports. Basically, I grew up with sports, as I now consider it my passion. My Dad is a sports fan, so in the beginning of my sports watching journey, five year-old Adam would watch with him. Whether it was games or SportsCenter, it soon grew into where sports were on every TV in the house. As a result, my Mom would have to turn the channel, because when she turned the TV on, they were most likely all on ESPN. After time had passed, I began watching sports on my own and then I began learning and memorizing the players as my love for sports seemed to snowball and explode. Simply, I cannot imagine my life without sports playing some part of it.

Q: What Is The Best Way To Start Watching Sports?

A: There is no best way to start, just have fun with it. The first step though in my opinion, is to turn on your TV to a sporting event. The previous statement may sound funny, but that is truly the first step. Once you have the game on, just watch it, and see if you can pickup on any details. By details, I mean notice the two teams who are playing, who the home and away team is, the score, where they are playing, etc. The worst thing a new sports fan could do is to make things too complicated or confusing. Doing this, often results in losing interest, calling the game "boring" and giving up on it when you are only five minutes into watching a game. Slowly, over time you will learn and memorize these things, but you have to stick with it, as it takes time. My best advice would be to keep it simple in the beginning and enjoy watching the games. Learning about sports is self-paced, as you can learn as little, or as much as you want.

Q: Doesn't Watching Sports All The Time Get Old?

A: No. This is the short version of my answer. As I type this, I am laughing to myself, because sports is all I have known my whole life. Often I will ask my Mom, "What Would I Like and Do If I Did Not Get into Sports?" Without sports, I literally have no idea what I would be into or what my main hobbies would be.

My Dad can only watch sports for so long, so as a result, I will go downstairs and watch sports in my basement by myself. My ideal setup is having my computer up to check fantasy scores and box scores, while I have the TV on. Depending on the day, I could have on an NFL game, a college game, a baseball game, or even a Memphis Grizzlies game, because we somehow get Bally Sports South East. I will always go to ESPN first though to see what nationally televised games are on. When the games end, I often will turn on the TV show "Friends" and watch that for the rest of the night, as that is the only show I can watch over and over again without it getting old. Ross is by far my favorite character!!!

Q: Once I Learn The Teams And General Details, What Is Next?

A: When I was young, I first learned the teams, then once I memorized and knew the teams at a pretty good rate, I moved on to learning and memorizing the players, which in my opinion is the best part of this whole process. Going on to the next step depends on the person though, as some people are satisfied with just watching their favorite team play, which is completely fine.

Memorizing players is almost like a whole different challenge, because there are so many ways that you could learn and memorize each player. For me though, I often look at how the player moves, runs, swings, catches a ball, shoots a ball, what they have on, etc. The players are what makes the games playable, if no one played then there would be no games, so the players for me are so much more important than anything else.

One thing that I have always struggled with is memorizing player's jersey numbers. Naming players by jersey number is something that I would fail at, because, like I mentioned, I look at the small details of each individual player, not the number on the front or back of their jersey. Other details I look at, is where they went to college, former teams they played for, etc.

Often, I will watch YouTube videos of NBA team introductions. Watching these short clips gives me so much information though, as I can memorize where each player went to college, what position they play or played, etc. (As a side note, the 90's Chicago Bulls introductions are the best sports introductions ever, at least in my opinion.)

Once again, this takes time, as I would try and learn the key players on each team first, before going on to learning the unfamiliar players.

Q: What Is The Fastest Way To Memorize Teams and Players?

A: The majority of people cannot wait on things and tend to become impatient. The same can apply when learning about sports. Like I mentioned previously, if you are wanting to learn something completely new to you then it takes time. But, if you feel like you want to memorize teams and players rather quickly, fantasy sports I feel is the way to go. Fantasy sports allows you to draft players, put a team together, set your lineup, and play against other people or friends. Personally, I have played in leagues since I was 11 years old and have loved it ever since. Without playing in these leagues, I would not have the knowledge that I would have today.

Other ways to learn about sports quicker, is by reading and researching the players. Often, I will buy Baseball America almanacs, as they give me a better insight on each player. Memorizing the statistics is so tough, because they change daily. As a result, I tend to focus just on the players and not the statistics. Of course playing video games is another fun and easy route to go as well. As a result, I tend to focus just on the players and not the statistics. This allows for my gut instinct to play a part, as well as checking my fantasy teams and box scores on a daily basis

For example, if a really good player, such as World Series Champion Freddie Freeman, the first basemen for the Braves, is in a slump, I tend not to worry about him because I know he will come out of it. Being familiar with the players is key, because you know how good they can be and you tend to not lose hope in them or drop them if you have them in a fantasy league. With that being said, when a player who I think is good gets dropped, I try to pick them up off the league's waiver wire, because I knew the person who dropped them made a mistake.

Soon, if you stick with it, you will be able to name the players when they are shown on TV, even if they are in street clothes and not even playing.

Q: How Do You Know Which Players Are Good?

A: This all comes down to gut instinct and watching the players perform and play from your own eyes and point of view over and over again. Only watching a player play once should not give you a good look into how good the player really is. When I prepare for fantasy drafts, I will look at rankings and then make my own, as I switch players around based on who I think is better. This is where opinions and comparisons come into play, because every person has a different opinion on players and teams.

For example, I had Cooper Kupp, the Rams receiver, ranked ahead of Chris Godwin, a receiver for the Buccaneers in my rankings, even though the majority of sites did not at the beginning of the season. Turns out, Cooper Kupp is currently ranked the number one receiver in the league, as I did not expect that to happen at all. Going with your gut can be huge and as a result, I was able to draft Kupp in three out of my four leagues.

Learning about the players is huge here, because I bet the majority of people do not make their own rankings and just go with the majority of sites on who to draft.

Q: Which Players and Teams Should I Like?

A: This one is all up to you based off your preference and judgement. For example, I cannot stand the Kansas City Chiefs, therefore I am a Denver Broncos fan because of Peyton Manning and his iconic 55 touchdown regular season in 2013 when he tore the league to shreds. Having Manning on my first ever fantasy football team that season, he became the forever GOAT of quarterbacks in my mind.

Often, I will like a player or team because I have had them on one of my fantasy teams in years past or if I connect with that specific player on a personal level. A few of my current favorite teams and players are:

MLB: Toronto Blue Jays

NFL: Denver Broncos

NBA: Boston Celtics

NCAA: Oklahoma Sooners

MLB: George Springer, Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer

NFL: DK Metcalf, Saquon Barkley

NBA: Jayson Tatum

The teams and players listed above all are my favorites from that sport. For example, George Springer is my favorite baseball player because we both have a speech impediment, as he will have the title of being my favorite player forever regardless of sport because of that reason. Jacob deGrom is my favorite pitcher, because he is hands down the best I have ever seen pitch in my life, and Max Scherzer is the guy I loved before deGrom decided to show up and blow the roof off the house.

Ever since last season, DK Metcalf has been one of my favorites because I had him on one of my teams in fantasy football and let's not forget the fact that he is built like a house, as he is an athletic freak of nature.

Saquon Barkley is one of my favorites because I drafted him when he was a rookie in fantasy football and was a beast his first two years in the league, until injuries popped up.

I have been a Celtics fan ever since the Garnett, Rondo, Allen, and Pierce days when they seemed unbeatable, Kevin Garnett was my favorite player when I was younger, as I still have his jersey in a closet. Jayson Tatum was drafted by the Celtics out of Duke and as a result he became one of my favorites, because he can do it all offensively and is a solid defender.

Tatum dunking on LeBron was amazing to witness a few years ago in the playoffs, as I have provided a picture below of the dunk for enjoyment. Fun Fact: I cannot stand LeBron James!!!

In a nutshell, those are the types of things that draw me to those specific teams and players and why I like them so much. This is what makes sports so fun, is the fact that everyone has their favorites and their own opinions on players and teams. To sum it up, choose who YOU want to be your favorite players and teams. Try not to be influenced by who others like, because everyone has their own opinion, do not be afraid to be different and stand out from others.

Q: How Much Sports Knowledge Should I Know?

A: For this final question, the answer is that it is up to you. I tend to go a bit crazy when it comes to sports, as I seem to not get enough of learning about the players and participating in fantasy leagues. The knowledge of sports or any subject for that matter depends on the person. I do my best to learn as much as possible, whether it be watching highlights over and over again, reading, researching, etc. I am always shocked and humbled at the same time when someone comes up to me and says "I know everything about sports", but that is simply not the case. I will always thank the person, but reply "thank you, but I am not even remotely close and have no idea where you heard that from." Sure, I know my fair share of sports knowledge, but I will never know everything, it is literally impossible. Believe it or not, it has taken my whole life to get to where I am today and and I only know a very small portion of sports knowledge.

Final Thoughts: I hope you all have enjoyed reading my article on how to get into sports. Above all, I believe that God has given me this gift, as I try to use it to the best of my ability For His honor and glory. If I missed any questions that you have, feel free to reach out to me, as I would love to try and answer the question the best I can. I love doing articles that everyone can relate to, not just the sports fan.

See You At The Ballpark!!!

Adam