I’ve been trying for what seems like forever to get my children interested in sports, but to no avail. Even when my middle son, Stewie, went from not being able to stand on ice skates just 2 years ago, to playing houseleague hockey this year, I cannot convince him to watch hockey on TV.
Frustrating!
Plus, I LOVE watching baseball on TV, win-or-lose, Blue Jays or any other team, yet my kids would sit for a minute – declare it boring – then move on.
I did manage to get them to like / love the Toronto Rock Lacrosse team – as a season ticket holder since their inception – I always thought it was because of the in-game activities like the lights, music playing throughout the game and food, more than the fact that the Rock were the team that won the most in a City starved for sports success.
I remember when the Boston Bruins were good, just a couple of seasons ago, and my oldest son Linus declared his love for Tukka Rask and other Bruins over the hometown Maple Leafs. I was disappointed but it was then that I realized kids what to support a winning team. How else can you explain all those fans of the Montreal Canadiens?!?
Now that my oldest is 10, I’m noticing he is paying attention to everything baseball, and why not! The Toronto Blue Jays staved off elimination last night with a 7-1 win over the Kansas City Royals and for the past month instead of playing hockey in the basement, we play baseball.
Winning gets the kids attention! It is winning that get children interested in sports and other events… Other events like politics.
With the Canadian Federal election a couple of days in the past, I can tell you that my children sure as hell know more about the next Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau than I do. They know he was “Just Not Ready” and that he walks a lot (up a down escalator in one campaign ad, and in a field in another). They also know that he dropped out of a lot of courses in University and that he is going to spend Canada into massive debt.
They’re not impressed but they are listening to the TV and radio and they are reading articles about the PM and they are watching Trudeau and the Liberals (both Federally and Provincially here in Ontario) like hawks.
It’s also the age.
My 10-year-old and now 9-year-old know every player on the Blue Jays. They know the scores, they know the batting averages and as a result of post-season baseball for the first time in their lives, they know about stealing signs, the pop-up slide and catchers framing pitches.
I’m excited.
They’re excited.
This is how kids get interested! It’s part parental encouragement (which sometimes acts as a detriment) part success and part coming of age.
In the meantime, I cannot get my kids to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs – the main discussion here surrounds the proposed name change to Toronto Maple Leaves and my child’s constant joke about the 1-3-2 Leafs and how they, like the “real” leafs “fall” this time of year… Every year.
Ouch.
Go Jays Go!
#ComeTogether
The Urban Daddy® 
Thankfully my boy was on a losing baseball, soccer and hockey team. I am not cut out to be a team mom and he just quit after a couple of years of all of them. Now he snowboards and does hip hop. Neither of which have a die hard TV following. We try and make it to a Leafs game every year and the kids don’t seem to care if they win or not. They have loved the nosebleeds at the Rogers Centre though (and we even scored game 5 tickets last series). You are right, winning makes us #ComeTogether
Favourite line: How else can you explain all those fans of the Montreal Canadiens?!?
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