This is a more culturally sensitive version of a reply to “What do you think of the Indians?”, meaning the Cleveland Indians.  That reply, censored here, was given by an adult I knew while in high school, an adult who didn’t have much interest in professional sports.

Then I did, I rooted for the Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Baron’s, a professional hockey team.

Going back to my elementary school days, I remember listening to Jimmy Dudley and someone else announcing the Indians’ games on WJW.  When I was in junior high I gave up a job in a grocery store at 60 cents an hour for the uncertainty of being a vendor at the Cleveland Stadium.  But I got to watch a lot of baseball games.

A couple of decades ago, I could still recite most of the usual lineup.  Now all I remember is Al Rosen at shortstop (whose name we took for our Class F team), Ken Keltner(sp) at third base, Larry Doby in right-field, and Thurston(?) something in center-field.  The only pitchers I can remember are Bob Feller, Bob Lemon (who sometimes hit home runs), and Don Black (who was hit in the head).  I may have also seen a game with Satchel Page.

I can still recite the names of the eight teams in each league.  In the American it was Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Athletics, Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, and St. Louis Browns.  In the National it was the Boston Braves, New York Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies (I had to think about that one), Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals.  I don’t know how many teams there are now and who has moved where, except the Senators became the Minnesota Twins.

I rooted for the Cleveland Barons, mostly because my mother knew the wife of the hockey reporter for one of the Cleveland papers.  He would give us tickets once in awhile.  Those were the days when many players went bare-headed, but they high-sticked and slammed each other into the boards, and sat in the penalty box.

When I was in high school I went to most of the football games and basketball games but I don’t think I ever went to a school baseball game.  Some of the players and band members were my friends.  Like my wrestling career, the football team lost more games than they won.  With some of the same players, the basketball team went to the state championships a couple of times.  I think the difference was the coaches – one older and rigid, the other younger and flexible.

When I went to Case as an undergraduate, I went to few if any football or basketball games.  That was in part because I was a commuter student and had a grocery store job that occupied most of my Saturdays.  When I came back as a graduate student, I don’t think I had much interest.

When I went to Ohio Wesleyan University, I attended a few football and basketball games, but I just didn’t have that “school spirit”.

In my first five-year stay in Minnesota, I don’t remember attending any professional sports events.  I did play on a church softball team, but certainly was not a stellar player.

When I worked in Italy, many of my co-workers were enthusiastic soccer fans.  At World Cup time it was amusing to watch the bantering and betting between my Italian and German co-workers.  I still remember the cheer, “Dai Azzuri”, loosely, “Go Blues”, Azzuri being the name of the national team.
The last two sports events I remember watching on TV were the 1987 World Series and the Winter Olympics in Norway.

Living in Minnesota, of course we cheered for the Twins.  However, I remember feeling sorry for the Cardinals as they dejectedly walked off the field after losing the seventh game.  But, hey, Cardinal fans, think how far they did get!

I remember seeing the nighttime opening spectacle at the Oslo Olympics and watching some of the ski races.  Was that the Olympics that “La Bomba” (“the bomb”) was a highly rated ski-jumper?  I don’t remember how well he did, but he was something to watch coming down the chute and into the air.

Now I’m a very reluctant spectator.  My son-in-law is a big sports fan and watches many games.  When I visit during a game I go read a book or work on my laptop.

The Essentia Fitness Center forces its member to watch sports.  Last year they installed flat screen TVs in three places.  Two of them are on the Sports Center.  I do my best to ignore them, but it is hard when they are in my line of sight.  Thank goodness, the sound is not on to compete with the overly loud background music.  I’m sure my figures are wrong, but it seems that it is one minute of sports action, two minutes of discussing the action , and three minutes of commercials.  How many times must I watch “Flo the Progressive Girl”?

You can find more of my musings and memories at http://magree.blogspot.com