What is your first sports memory?
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by user Manny Stiles
It's hard to think about events in my life without remembering the sports events that occurred in the same time frame. Sports has been a part of my life as long as anything else I've done.
(to a past life)
Now some people have good memories, other people don't know that they ARE allowed to have good memories and some people have incurred brain trauma or senility that hampers their memory. I have a pretty outstanding memory. I can remember particular events of the past like they just happened. I can remember what we were eating, what it smelled like, how it felt, what the weather was like or who was there for most sporting events I attended, played in or watched on TV. I have a buddy who has a more outstanding memory than my own. He can remember particular details like what shirt you were wearing, what shoes you had on (he is a sneaker-freek) or what the conversations were about 20 years ago! Of course this same buddy loses his keys often, calls his girlfriend by his ex's name and never remembers anyone's birthday. Go Figure.
OK, enough background. To the memories!!!
I was raised in the Philly suburbs, but I had an Uncle that lived in Indiana and worked in conjunction with the Cincinnati Reds. He knew several players and even introduced me to Johnny Bench (who gave me a bat I have still) but I was too young to remember.
My dad also had a friend who knew Joe Frazier and when I met him, my Dad told me he was "the champ" (even though he no longer was) he put up his fists and snarled at me so I punched him squarely below the belt, directly in the nads. A 4 year old nearly dropped the former champ!!! Apparently he was caught off guard! I don't remember the incident, but my Dad still has a picture of the meeting and you can tell Joe was not too happy with me.
My first sports memory actually came in October 1979. I was in 1st grade, it was a couple of days before my birthday and the Pirates and Orioles were playing game 7 in what HAD to be the ugliest dressed World Series ever. We watched it on TV because my much older brother was a Roberto Clemente fan from WAY back and even though Clemente had died before I was born, my big bro was still a Pirates fan (and sadly STILL is). I didn't care for the Pirates other than you HAD to like Pops Stargell, "We Are Family" was too omnipresent to ignore in 1979, they had those crazy yellow unis and the freeky round hats. But I was hooked on baseball right there and then. It was exciting, it was thrilling, it had Kent Tekulve looking like a reject accountant throwing sidearm. I watched at least one game of every World Series since (even crappy-ass 2000).
Soon after, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Rams (I thought Vince Ferragamo and Lou Ferrigno were the same guy, so I liked the Rams) went at it for the Super Bowl. We watched the game at a friend of my Dad's place on a surprisingly warm January day in Philadelphia. It was then I became a football fan. I've watched every Super Bowl (except one) since!!!
The next year, 1980, sealed the deal. That was the year Philadelphia sports ruled supreme. There was no escaping the madness. The Phighting Phils won the Series, Eagles made it to their first Super Bowl, the Sixers made it to the Finals ("BEAT L.A.") and the Flyers were in the Conference finals. While I wasn't neccessarily a Philly fan, there was no denying I was a sports fan from then on!
So... what was YOUR first sports memory???
I encourage you to scan the memory banks and post your first sports memory in comments and I will + your submission, since that's what I do, + people....
