I've always loved sports. My first love was the Toronto Blue Jays when I discovered them during the summer of '83. Tom Cheek and Jerry Howarth were my guides and I listened as often as possible.
I discovered the Toronto Maple Leafs shortly thereafter, mesmerized by Rick Vaive's scoring touch. My sports diet primarily consisted of baseball and hockey until I started diversifying in the late 80s. Then I was enamoured by Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls and Jim Kelly's Buffalo Bills. Throw in some tennis, Indy cars, NCAA basketball and Argos and I've been a sports fan ever since.
As I age, I've realized the deeper the dive the less fun it all is for me. I love to watch the Leafs, enjoying our talented rookies, but I don't really care for the new analytics. I appreciate that possession stats are important, but I prefer to stay a step behind. Entertain me, and just win, baby.
With baseball, I enjoy the stats I grew up with. Batting average, HRs, stolen bases, walks, ERA, strikeouts, saves.... Data is important, but I can only absorb so much before it detracts from my enjoyment of the games. When sports stop being fun to follow, it's time to abandon ship. This is precisely what happened to me and football.
I don't know if this makes me less of a sports fan, but I definitely prefer my sports shallow. Today we have instant access to hyper analysis of every minutia. I'm glad it exists, but I'm going to pass.
Go Leafs go.
