As we celebrate Father’s Day today, we’d like to take a little time to wax poetic about our dads. This is a multi-post series.
–Lauren Fernandez, Lombardi Avenue, @cubanalaf: My dad and football are forever entwined. I grew up in a hardcore Cowboys household, and to my dad/grandfather they represented America. For my foreign family, being a Packers fan gets some good ribbing, but they tolerate it.
My dad traveled a lot when I was a kid, but he was always home on Sundays. Because of that, football became our thing. Without fail, we’d watch the games and bond. I was always asking questions, and he taught me the game and the passion behind it. Football analogies and games shaped my life and made me the person I am today. Te amo, Papi.
Keep reading after the jump.
–Lise Green, Big Dance Crashers, @zagpatsfan: On Sunday morning, my dad will open a blue envelope and look at a folded piece of cardstock with a soccer ball, basketball, baseball, and football on it. The words below the symbols read “All-Star Dad.†That image is truly how I see my dad.
I was forced to send my dad a Father’s Day card this year because we won’t be together. He’s at a volleyball tournament for my sister 3,000 miles away.
When I think about it, aside from me not being there with him, it only seems fitting that he is at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports for his special day—taking in one of the most epic athletic locations in the United States.
While my entire family has always been extremely involved in sports, it’s my dad that passed down the “avid sports participant AND fan†gene to me. I’ve loved playing and being active since my days of kindergarten soccer, but nothing would have been the same if it weren’t for my dad’s influence in all of my athletic experiences.
From coaching my first grade soccer team to my basketball teams in fifth and sixth grade, my dad was a mentor on the field and court. In middle school, he even began hosting a middle school track meet at the high school to expose the sport—and give me another opportunity to compete.
When I got to high school, it was even better, he was my cross country and track coach. We trained for miles in the summer together, enjoying morning runs and afternoon workouts in the off-season. Â In the fall and spring, he guided our squads to success.
As a freshman, I had the opportunity to participate in two-a-days with the upperclassmen. That was Dad’s secret way of pushing me to my best.
There is nothing more ironic than the fact that I had my career ending injury on my dad’s birthday. While that day may have been devastating to my athletic future, March 10, 2007 sparked a new sports bond with my dad and me.
I grew into an avid sports fan. Prior to the injury, I liked sports, but really only focused on my sports. Dad changed all that.
A trip to Fenway Park, several California State cross country and track & field meets, a Stanford-USC men’s basketball game, a Shark’s hockey game, those are just a few of the highlights we shared as sports fans together.
Now, my dad and I are “jock-talk†specialists. We can sit at dinner and diagram basketball offenses, reminisce of high school distance runners from five years back, and discuss the latest MLB standings and injuries. My mom and sister roll their eyes at our vast knowledge of all types of sports at all levels, but dad and I relish it.
We have always had a special bond as father and daughter, but sports have connected our lives more than I can believe. There is no way I would ever know or understand all that I do about sports if my dad hadn’t invested so much time in me my whole life, especially on an athletic level.
–Amanda Diegel, Practice Makes P1, @162610: I have basically next to nothing sports related in common with my dad. He’s a high school football referee, I fall asleep watching football. I love hockey, he has turned it off on me when it’s an intermission. I love Formula 1, the only thing related to F1 he has ever said is “the noses on those cars look funny.” I guess at least he knows it’s a nose.
My grandpa though, makes me smile so much. My family was in the midst of a move from Chicago to Chattanooga, Tennessee when I was 11. My dad had to move down seven months ahead of us, and our house was sold five months ahead of our move in date down south. My mom, brother, and I lived with my grandma and grandpa during that time. My grandpa used to bowl a lot, and he once gave me this little green token from a tournament. I still have it in one of my jewelry boxes. In those months before we moved, my grandpa and the three of us participated in a family bowling league every Sunday night. It was so much fun. I actually did rather well because I was bowling every weekend.
My grandma and grandpa ended up also moving to Tennessee a year later. Even though I went through a bit of a sports lull for about five years, and I’ve been living in Atlanta for the past two, my grandpa is well aware of my love for hockey. I went to visit them while I was home for Christmas, and my grandpa immediately changed the channel to what should have been the Atlanta Thrashers. Sadly, despite what the TV guide said, it was the Nashville Predators. It was no big deal to me, but my grandpa was actually annoyed that the guide said it was the Thrashers. He’ll also watch football with my dad on holidays, even though he never watches anything but tennis with my grandma.
I hope both of them have a happy Father’s Day,and I’m so glad to have them both as sports enablers!
–Clare Toffoli, Ravine Report: My Dad is a Giants fan.
Yes, it’s true.
Yours truly, Clare Toffoli: Dodger Fan Extraordinaire, was born from Giant origins.
A true shame.
But this Dad of mine is no ordinary Giants fan. My Dad is a Giants fan who is quite special. He knowingly and willingly raised a daughter who bleeds Dodger blue. He fostered my love for not only baseball and the Boys in Blue, but for sports in general.
My Dad the Giants fan loves me. He loves the fact that I love the Dodgers, he loves the fact that I love baseball, and he loves that I am a crazy sports fan.
And I love him. I love him for loving sports. I love him for teaching me how to love sports. And I love him for encouraging me to be my own sports fan.
So on this father’s day, I’m thanking my Dad in writing. But every time I go to a game, every time I recap a Dodgers-Giants series, and every time I sit down to read the sports page, I am thankful for him.
On his special day I say happy Father’s day to my Dad the Giants fan.
Thanks for the ball games, and thanks for encouraging me. I love you — and on this Father’s Day, I’ll pretend I don’t hate the Giants.
Clare and her dad
