I recently started dating a great girl who likes playing sports and attending games, but, like many girls, doesn't enjoy watching on TV as much as I do. We aren't the first couple with differing views on this subject, which reminds me of the movies Fever Pitch and Good Will Hunting, and the different approaches men have taken in this matter.
In Fever Pitch, Jimmy Fallon plays an obsessive Red Sox fan with season tickets, who never misses a game, even when offered a free trip to Paris with his girlfriend, Drew Barrymore. His fanaticism causes a rift in their relationship until Barrymore relents to his obsessive nature and decides to love him regardless of whether he changes or not.
Also playing a Red Sox fan, in Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams has a ticket to game 6 of the 1975 World Series in Boston, the game Carlton Fisk waved his home run fair to win one of the most dramatic games in Red Sox history. However, Williams meets a girl in a bar before the game and gives up his ticket to "see about a girl" he ultimately falls in love with and marries.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, I created a short test to help you figure out how your relationship might end up..
1. You are heading to dinner at Outback Steakhouse with your girlfriend to meet her sister and brother-in-law for the first time. It's the weekend of your college's big rivalry game so you wear your favorite team t-shirt, to which your girlfriend objects and asks you to change into something a little more "appropriate". What do you wear?
2. After a few casual dates with a girl you begin to like, you take her to watch your favorite NBA team play. She comes but texts her friends most of the time and later says she isn't too into sports. She is a great girl otherwise. Do you keep taking her out or tell her it's not going to work out?
Medium..
3. The Red Sox are playing the Yankees on Sunday afternoon. It's September and the Sox have a one game lead in the standings. Your girlfriend asks you to skip watching the game and come to dinner with her family who you've met twice. Do you watch the game or go to dinner?
4. You are a Mariners' fan and your best friend invites you to this Saturday's game against the Yankees. At the same time, your wife asks you to join her in picking out seeds for the new garden she has been wanting to start. You don't have time for both. How do you spend your Saturday?
Hard…
5. It's championship week and your favorite college football team is playing for the conference title and a trip to a BCS bowl. Your fiance, with very particular tastes, was thinking it would be a good day for you to join her to help register and Bed, Bath and Beyond. Do you watch the game or help pick out bath towels?6. Super Bowl Sunday is coming up and your team is playing. You want to invite all your friends over to BBQ and watch the game on your new 60 inch flat screen, but the girl you are considering proposing to wants you to join her family in celebrating her grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. Do you BBQ or celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa?
Time to grade your performance:
How many answers supported your passions for sports?
5-6: Enjoy your season tickets and the single life
3-4: Games on the line, time to take the big shot
2 or less: Pack up your sports gear, give your team blanket to a buddy and enjoy dancing with Grandma!
As for my dating life, the girl is amazing and we have a lot of fun together. In fact, we played volleyball this afternoon with our friends and had a blast, and will be going to a Mariners' game when we visit Seattle later this summer.
Oh, and in case you are wondering about my performance on the test?
Stay tuned.
Scenario No. 1: wear whatever, it's the outback steakhouse…or if your girlfriend is crazy put the button up over the team shirt then rip it off at the appropriate time (aka when they slam dunk a goal… USA! USA!) (totally kidding)..are there TVs in outback for you to watch???
ReplyDeleteNo. 2: dump her. not because she isn't into sports, but because she's rude enough to text while on a date with you (no matter where you take her)
No. 3: it's sunday…. =]
No. 4: seeds can wait. go friday with her. or that morning or that evening. games don't last forever.
No. 5: already have the game/"college football" written on the calendar. she needs a heads up when wedding planning. Bed bath & beyond takes approximately 9 hours to register for- so you'll have to agree on a day in advance. she can't register alone…or can she? blue couches and odd ball vintage it is baby!!
No. 6: there is no way gma and gpa are planning their anniversary on super bowl sunday. if that were the case, there would either be half the family MIA or the game would be on at the BBQ…
as for me and my house, i am not sports illiterate or crazy. im a tomboy that also wears heels and drools over floral shower curtains. watching sports isn't a crime. you don't have to choose between girls or sports. you can have your cake, sweetheart, and eat it too. don't make me choose between you and my camera.
PS - For all those reading, this article was an attempt at humor whereby both men and women can identify with and laugh at the scenarios placed in this story. I am in no way using this article to to drop subtle hints about problems in my dating life, haha... This was meant for entertainment only. I was attempting to change up my articles a little by applying a more personal touch to my regular sports themed posts.
ReplyDeleteThat said, great responses Des! And yes, you can register alone. I've had many friends recommend it, saying they all got in fights while registering with their spouses! It's all about picking battles; I'll watch my football while my wife picks out the plates, silverware and curtains, haha
Oh, and the title "Girls or sports?" was not a real question I am asking myself. I chose that title because I figured it would draw in more readers. It's all about marketing :)
ReplyDelete