Sports Fan

Guest post of the week by Brittany Booker

I’m really into sports. Like, really, really into sports. I have a favorite team in just about every division and I have probably 12 jerseys to my name. My wife is pretty much the best woman in the whole world and she got me expertsatellite.com satellite for my birthday around Christmastime and it’s been amazing so far! I was able to watch just about all of the College World Series baseball games and I’ve even been able to catch a lot of random soccer games being played internationally I usually have to go to sports bars to watch. I know my obsession is probably getting a little out of hand but who cares? All that matters is that I’m able to sit at home and get some enjoyment out of watching a bunch of guys compete against each other in some trivial sport! I think it comes from the fact that I was never a great athlete growing up and I always wanted to be so now I’m living vicariously through my teams.

Super Bowl Fun

It's almost time for the Super Bowl! Which means that sports radio, football fans, online sports betting sites, advertisers, and buffalo wing makers everywhere are in full swing. My team didn't make it to the Super Bowl this year, but of course I'm still going to go to a Super Bowl party to watch the game...and the ads, which seem to get even more attention sometimes.

I'm rooting for the Packers, because I'm not a big fan of the Steelers. (I'm also not a big fan of Brett Favre, so I think it would be extra funny to see the Packers win for that reason.) But I don't think I'll be betting on the game this year, since my predictions so far this season haven't exactly been right on. But if you are going to be, be sure to brush up on your sports betting tips and tricks first. (And also check to see what's legal where you live, of course.) I remember being blown away by all of the sports betting action going on the first time I went to Las Vegas.

So who do you think it's going to be? Packers or Steelers? Give me your predictions!

Headed to Lion Country!

Author: Theresa Guerrero

Nothing is better than heading to State College, Pennsylvania to spend the day at the Nittany Lion's football field! We look forward to going to these games every year. That is why we buy season tickets. If for some reason we are unable to go, due to an illness or other obligations, we rely on DirecTV to watch the game.

Because we live further away from the University, we usually make it an overnight stay. Sometimes it turns into an entire weekend getaway if the games are held later in the day. Traffic can be pretty congested during these weekends so we want to give ourselves plenty of time to get to the game and staying overnight seems to take some of the stress off.

We enjoy seeing the coach, Joe Paterno; the team players, old and new; and of course, the Nittany Lion mascot! And what more can be said about the Penn State students, they add an amazing amount of energy to the stadium! Whether one is decked out in blue and white or attempting a complete 'white out', it is great fun for our family and the friends that go with us!

Wordless Wednesday: The NFL Season is Coming

What's in a name?

I was watching SportsCenter the other day and they mentioned a game that happened at PETCO Park in San Diego. It's kinda depressing sometimes when sports arenas and concert venues have to change to the names of their corporate sponsors. Most visiting teams aren't going to be too intimidated by a name like Qualcomm Stadium.

Here in the New York area, we're still getting used to the transition from Shea Stadium to Citi Field. But we know it could be worse, and at least it doesn't sound too corporate. And on the west coast I'm sure it's similar. It sounds cooler to say that you're going to the Hollywood Bowl or got Great Western Forum tickets than it does to say that you're off to AT&T Park. (And if you do happen to be in the market for some Hollywood Bowl tickets and want to test this theory, Jack Johnson's going to be there next month. Love him.)

For football fans, the mention of, say, Lambeau Field conjures up images and memories of epic clashes on frozen tundra and other NFL Films voiceover phrases like that. (Although, not being a Packers fan myself, I'm curious about whether those Lambeau Field tickets are still selling like they did when Brett Favre was there.) It's not quite the same feeling when your stadium has a name like Sun Life Stadium or FedEx Field.

I guess I'm spoiled as a New York sports fan, because here we still have Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, and the Meadowlands. No offense to any of the teams that play at Corporate Park, but I hope our venues keep their names for a long time.

Baseball Baseball Baseball!

It's baseball season! Is everyone totally excited? How is your team doing? Winning? Losing? Are you loyal to one team, no matter how bad they're doing? Do you support the local arenas or root for players from out of state? Are you a Cosmo-style fan who only roots for the hottest players? (Kidding.)

We can't deny that most of the Good Authority are Yankee fans, but we're not the kind of Yankee fans that hate the Mets or anything. (Although we're not going to comment on how we feel about the Boston Red Sox.) And yeah, we know, everyone hates the Yankees, we don't need to hear it.

We have to admit that even though we're big fans of the Yankees, we're usually lazy fans who are more likely to watch the game on TV (preferably while drinking beer) than buy tickets and trek to Yankee Stadium...Although it does happen from time to time. We've also been to a bunch of Mets games, but we haven't been to Citi Field yet. We're not even used to saying Citi Field instead of Shea Stadium yet, but we'll get there.

But we do also travel a lot (World Domination takes a lot of work!) so we're always looking for fun things to do in any area we visit... including checking out the local home teams. (Of course, if they're playing the Yankees, all the better!) We had a lot of fun when we were in Chicago for BlogHer last summer, but unfortunately we were too busy to make it out to Wrigley Field for a game. And we're not sure that anything can top Jezebel's experience at Camden Yards a few years ago, when a drunk guy sitting in her section decided to throw his own impromptu dance party complete with a striptease down to his cow print boxer shorts. Shockingly the security guys were not amused.

If anyone has their own fun stories from live sports events, or you just want to invite us to come to a game with you, let us know!

Sports Commercials are Dudely

So, between football and the baseball playoffs, I've been watching a lot of sports in the last few days. That also means I've been subjected to a lot of commercials. While it's no surprise that advertisers (much like the editors of Cosmo) assume that the default sports viewer is male, I've noticed that they also apparently think that every single one of them has erectile dysfunction.

Seriously, it's nothing but wall to wall commercials for Viagra, Levitra, Cialis, and probably a few other little blue pills that I'm forgetting. (And if you throw sports radio into the mix too, you also get the penis enlargement ads going.) One particular ad that repeated over and over featured a guy having a conversation with his own reflection in a window about how he really should talk to his doctor about his ED. I'm thinking that while this guy is having that very important talk, he should probably also mention to his doctor that he's having hallucinations, hearing things, and talking with himself out loud while walking down the street.

I get that they show all of these commercials during sports because they know that a lot of guys are watching, but I'm wondering if they think about the fact that a lot of guys are watching with a lot of other guys. Are the guys supposed to have a friendly chat about their...difficulties while they're sitting around the man wall watching Monday Night Football? Cause while I don't think there should be any stigma about erectile dysfunction, there often is, and with the macho culture that surrounds sports to begin with this seems more like a recipe for a bunch of guys grandstanding about how much they don't need any of these products.

I guess I shouldn't complain too much about having to watch all of these commercials. Since advertisers haven't yet figured out that hey, there are women watching sports too, it's generally a nice break from all of the ads for diet plans, cleaning products, and yogurt that they think us girls just love. At least with the dudely ads I get to be annoyed in a different way.