Sports Widow

Warning: Baseball Playoffs & Football Monopolize October

October 3, 2007 11:29 AM | 1 Comments

Sports Widow Advisory: Autumn is officially here in Seattle, and a steady rain is falling on The Emerald City. Despite the gloomy weather, I do have one thing going for me: As of today, our hometown baseball team, the Seattle Mariners, throw in their gloves and bats for the season, and the stadium lights at Safeco Field go out until April 2008. I confess to feeling a bit Grinchy about this sense of relief, but, between NFL and NCAA Football there appear to be plenty of distractions for the sports fans in my family.

My false sense of security about what might translate into a waning interest in baseball was scuttled when I scanned the Major League Baseball web site to see what the October Sports Widow Forecast holds. Sure, our home team is no longer a factor for the World Series, but the dreaded Migration Phenomenon will come into play.

The Migration Phenomenon is as instinctive as geese flying in V formation to the southlands for the winter, as basic as e=mc2. If you're a Baseball Widow, Football Widow or any other kind of Sports Widow, it means the minute your fan's team is eliminated from the playoffs, they will zealously follow the grand theater until the last two teams are standing on the stage. And, if one of the teams is the New York Yankees, the zeal for the opposition or support will be greater by magnitudes. Even I know the New York Yankees are sometimes disdained as the superior rich kids on the block led by an arrogant leader (especially by Boston Red Sox fans). One of my sorority sisters at the Tri-Delta house at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill was George Steinbrenner's daughter, Jenny, and I've often wondered what it's like to be connected to a franchise that is so scorned (or loved) and so directly linked to her own father. Growing up, I think I'd be afraid to ask him to pass the Wheaties at the breakfast table. I'd be cowering behind the milk carton.

So, we can't beat 'em and don't necessarily have to join them. What should we Baseball Widows do? Here's some ideas.

Baseball Widow Coping Tips

Inclusion Options
1) Host an Octoberfest party that coincides with one of the weekend baseball playoff games or a World Series game. Invite all of your friends, Sports Fans and Sports Widows, alike.
2) Watch a baseball-related movie with your fan and/or family. My personal favorites are The Natural (Director's Cut), Field of Dreams (Widescreen Collector's Edition), Bull Durham and, more recently, Fever Pitch (Widescreen Edition). For families, some options are Angels in the Outfield, The Bad News Bears, The Benchwarmers and The Sandlot (most include crude, lavatorial humor, but what else is new?) See Sports Widow Resources on this site.
3) Whack some balls and practice pitching with your young son or daughter. Warning: if they are really strong pitchers like my 9-year-old son Austin, you may need to wear safety goggles!

Alternate Programming Options
4) Go shopping with the kids for Halloween props and costumes, or have a Halloween decorating party while your fan is glued to the tube. While you are out, you might think about getting a team mascot or cheer leader costume for your fan.
5) Embrace Fall by joining forces with another Sports Widow mom. Take the kids on a farm adventure to pick pumpkins, go on hay rides, pet farm animals and pick up fresh produce for a homemade soup or chile. Pack up some snacks and picnic blankets and have a tailgate party.

Payback Options
6) Ship your fan off to another fan's house and host a wine/chocolate tasting party with girlfriends or fire up the fondue pot with some fromage et chocolate.
7) Start a Movie Club like mine (more details to come). Challenge yourself to find the Sports Widow Movie Moments, e.g. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1975), the dictatorial Nurse Ratched engages in one of many power plays when she refuses to let Randle Patrick McMurphy (played by Jack Nicholson) rearrange the schedule so the patients can watch The World Series.

Whatever you do, make a conscious effort not to get played by the MLB playoffs and The World Series! Send me your ideas.