Spring Break
Dealing with sports withdrawal in Baltimore
Issue date: 4/24/08
Back at home (Westchester, N.Y. - just north of New York City) there is a commercial for the cable company in which they repeatedly mention how the New York metro area has nine major men's professional sports teams. Nine teams, spread out over four major sports. This means that I am usually never at a loss when it comes to wanting to watch the 'home' team.
It did not hit me until I got cable a few weeks into the school year that I would not be able to watch my beloved Yankees as they tried to catch the Red Sox at the top of the American League East division, or watch the Mets as they were trying to avoid a colossal late season collapse. I couldn't watch the Knicks, despite the worst season in team history, or the Rangers, who recently played another N.Y.-metro area team, the Devils, in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
I got another cold, hard slap in the face during football season. I have two teams to root for - the Jets and the Giants. So when I woke up on December 16 to watch my Jets played the then undefeated New England Patriots, I was stunned to realize that the only game on television at the time was the Ravens taking on the winless Miami Dolphins.
There are people who probably think I have no right to complain. ESPN does tend to show a disproportionate amount of games featuring New York teams for marketing reasons. But for someone who is a die-hard New York sports junkie, the last few months have been somewhat trying.
I know that I am not alone in this boat. Freshman David Moorshead, who is from the suburbs of Kansas City, Mo., feels the same way.
"I feel like I'm missing out on the play-by-play of Chiefs football games. Even though I'm now living in Baltimore, I'd rather watch sports teams from Kansas City," Moorshead said.
There are some people, however, who actually fall into the opposite boat. Eric Lubben, another freshman, hails from Stamford, Conn., but is actually a die-hard Orioles fan.
"I've liked the Orioles since I was five, so living in the Baltimore area provides opportunities not only to watch the games on TV, but also to go to the Yard and watch the games," Lubben said. "It's great because for any home game I can go down to the stadium and get a really cheap ticket and watch my team play."
It did not hit me until I got cable a few weeks into the school year that I would not be able to watch my beloved Yankees as they tried to catch the Red Sox at the top of the American League East division, or watch the Mets as they were trying to avoid a colossal late season collapse. I couldn't watch the Knicks, despite the worst season in team history, or the Rangers, who recently played another N.Y.-metro area team, the Devils, in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
I got another cold, hard slap in the face during football season. I have two teams to root for - the Jets and the Giants. So when I woke up on December 16 to watch my Jets played the then undefeated New England Patriots, I was stunned to realize that the only game on television at the time was the Ravens taking on the winless Miami Dolphins.
There are people who probably think I have no right to complain. ESPN does tend to show a disproportionate amount of games featuring New York teams for marketing reasons. But for someone who is a die-hard New York sports junkie, the last few months have been somewhat trying.
I know that I am not alone in this boat. Freshman David Moorshead, who is from the suburbs of Kansas City, Mo., feels the same way.
"I feel like I'm missing out on the play-by-play of Chiefs football games. Even though I'm now living in Baltimore, I'd rather watch sports teams from Kansas City," Moorshead said.
There are some people, however, who actually fall into the opposite boat. Eric Lubben, another freshman, hails from Stamford, Conn., but is actually a die-hard Orioles fan.
"I've liked the Orioles since I was five, so living in the Baltimore area provides opportunities not only to watch the games on TV, but also to go to the Yard and watch the games," Lubben said. "It's great because for any home game I can go down to the stadium and get a really cheap ticket and watch my team play."
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