Portrait of the Author as a Sports Nut
The other day, this came up on my Facebook feed, dated February 24, 2014:
I'm reading The Secret Lives of Sports Fans: The Science of Sports Obsession, by Eric Simons, of National Public Radio. It includes "The Sport Spectator Identification Scale." Seven questions, on a scale of 1 to 8: (Simons writes) "If your score comes in under 18, you're hardly justified in calling yourself a fan; if it comes in above 35, you're seriously invested. For what it's worth, my scores for my local teams are: Cal football, 43; San Jose Sharks hockey, 42; Oakland A's, 25." A 56 would be a perfect score: Perfectly insane.
So I took the test, and got these results: Yankees, 52; Arsenal, 50; Devils, 46; East Brunswick H.S., 34; Rutgers, 23 (I did not differentiate between football and basketball); the Nets, 18.
I punched in new numbers to reflect the old realities. Had I taken the same test in high school (between September 12, 1984 and June 23, 1987) -- keeping in mind that, then, I was still at EBHS, the Nets were still in New Jersey (and were good, if not great), the Devils were still new and pathetic, and had never heard of Arsenal (few Americans had) -- it would have been: EBHS, 56 (a perfect score); Yankees, 54 (actually higher than now); Rutgers, 32 (much higher); Devils, 30 (much less of an emotional investment); Nets, 29.
And I also decided to look at the "local" football teams, as I currently feel about them: Eagles 12, Jets 12, Giants 10. Not a "real fan" of either. Why the Jets higher? Simple: I hate their rivals (New England, Miami, Oakland) more than I hate the Giants' (Eagles, Dallas) or the Eagles' (Giants, Dallas).
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I'm not saying that this test is the best way to measure depth of fandom. But I do wonder if there's a better version.
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The following countdown may soon get thrown out of whack by Major League Baseball postponing the start of the 2022 regular season, due to the team owners' greed:
Days until the next New York Red Bulls game: 0. They open the 2022 regular season today, at 6:00 PM Eastern Time, away to the San Jose Sharks.
Days until the New Jersey Devils again play a local rival: 6, next Friday night, March 4, against the New York Rangers, at Madison Square Garden.
Days until the next Arsenal game: 8, a week from tomorrow, at 9:00 AM New York time, away to Hertfordshire team Watford.
Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown. It was supposed to be on January 16, at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but was postponed due to COVID protocols, and has not yet been rescheduled.
Days until the next game of the U.S. National Soccer Team: 26, on Thursday, March 24, at 10:00 PM Eastern Time, a CONCACAF World Cup Qualifier against Mexico, at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
Days until the Yankees play another game that counts: 33, on March 31, 2022, away to the Texas Rangers. Under 5 weeks.
Days until the Red Bulls again play a nearby rival: 35, on Saturday, April 2, 2022, away to the New England Revolution.
Days until the Yankees' home opener: 40, on Thursday, April 7, 2022, against the Boston Red Sox. Under 6 weeks.
Days until the Yankees' next series against the Boston Red Sox begins: See the previous answer.
Days until the next Rutgers University football game: 189, on Saturday, September 3, 2022, away to Boston College. Under 7 months.
Days until the next East Brunswick High School football game: 195, on Friday, September 9, 2022, against arch-rival Old Bridge. Under 7 months. Hopefully, our home field, under renovation through the entire 2021 season, will be ready, so we don't have to go back to the purple pit.
Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge game: See the previous answer.
Days until the next elections for the U.S. Congress and for the Governors of most States in the Union, including New York and Pennsylvania: 255, on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Under 9 months.
Days until the next World Cup opens: 2682, on Friday, November 21, 2022, in Doha, Qatar. Under 9 months.
Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 273, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 26, at 12:00 noon, at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey. Exactly 9 months.
Days until the next Women's World Cup opens: 499, on Friday, July 10, 2023, jointly held in the neighboring nations of Australia and New Zealand. Under a year and a half.
Days until the next Summer Olympic Games: 881, on Friday, July 26, 2024, in Paris, France. A shade over 2 and a half years.
Days until the next Presidential election: 983, on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Under 3 years.
Days until the next elections for Governor of New Jersey and Mayor of New York City: 1,347, on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. Under 4 years.
Days until the next Winter Olympics open in Milan, Italy, China: 1,441, on Friday, February 6, 2026. Under 4 years.
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