Sitting in the stands at a basketball or minor-league baseball game.
"Whaaaat??" you may ask--"aren't you this rabid football fan?"
Yes, yes I am. But to me there are few things more fun than going to a baseball or basketball game and watching it live. I will allow, however, that my demeanor is very different depending on which event I am at.
Baseball: you've got your hot dogs (a ballpark is the best place for a hot dog), peanuts, sodee pops, beer (if that's your beverage of choice), sunshine, and the organ music, and the leisurely pace of the pitcher's windup, the batter's glove & shirt & bat routine. The outfield is green, green. The infield is a nice red-brown, and the baselines are eye-popping white. You take in the ads on the outfield fences, the antics of the mascot, the musical flourishes that each batter chooses as his signature. And between innings: the dog racing the bases. The kid racing the mascot. The two kids racing each other in the "let's get dressed in too-big baseball gear" race. The "shoot beanie babies into a huge pair of pants" game. The mascot racing a go-cart around the warning track. And in the midst of all this, you can choose to pay attention to an athletic contest! But the point is relaxation.
Basketball: it's a fast, intimate game when you see it live. TV makes it dead--makes the court seem too big. When you go, you have to stand up and pay close attention to every possession, the way game momentum changes on a steal & breakaway. In cases like this, you are likely to find me standing on my feet, shouting at the top of my lungs, beating my hat on the nearest hard object when a "3" doesn't fall, and generally being more hyper than you'd think possible. And when played well as a team sport (usually at the hs and college level), it can be a beautiful thing to see. And yes, I'm a Tar Heel, so I've got my biases--for instance, which color blue is the best.
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