Take me out to the ballgame!

Ah yes… the grand ol’ game is BACK! Like most of you I am a huge fan of team sports in general – love the NHL (odd for a guy who grew up in the south) and the NFL - but there is something magical about the beginning of the MLB season. Not sure what it is… the seasonal change from winter to spring, the end of the “doldrums” that separate the football season from the baseball season? Could be the love of my team and the drama that surrounds opening day. The smell of hot dogs, peanuts and the hoisting of $10 beers… I love it!!!

As a kid I played little league sports – mostly football and a little baseball. My dad played football at the University of South Carolina. When it came time for me to take up the sport I seemed to be light-years ahead of the kids around me. Pops coached the older kids but he would spend time with me practicing in the backyard with a tackling dummy or biting a hole in a tree. Made me tough beyond my size. No fear whatsoever. I was excited about getting my helmet, my shoulder pads. Shopping for new cleats was a thrill. I became the heroes of my youth. I would play the theme song to “Monday Night Football” through my head the entire game.

Team sports really shaped me, made me who I am. It taught me discipline and helped mold me for the day when I’d “grow up” (still waiting for that day, some would say). Taught me that you lose sometimes and that, when you do, you need to get up off the field, dust off and get back in the game (today’s belief that “everyone is a winner” and leagues where every kid gets a trophy will be saved for another time…).

As I grew older I stopped growing taller! I didn’t go on to collegiate sports like my dad. It’s cool… I played as a kid, got my fill. I never stopped being a fan of sports, though. Never forgot the message. I played hockey in an organized adult league with a bunch of other overweight guys who smelled like beer on a Sunday morning. It was fun, reliving my youth. Again, just like a kid, I was excited about my new CCM helmet and skates, pads, gloves and, most importantly, a new cup!

I look at our industry in a different light these days and see the importance of the sporting goods manufacturers and retailers specializing in team sports. I shop with my son now, who plays on his middle school soccer team, and we spend a ton on the latest shoes or the smallest possible shin guard to keep him legal. I see it all differently. Equipment for endurance and safety, to make a better player, training aids for life’s lessons, on the racks just humming that old theme song to ABC’s “Wild World of Sports”.

See you in June!

fish

Steven Fisher

Buyer Relations Manager

800-947-7873 x 7903

stevenfisher@dmgworldmedia.com

Can't ya smell the hot dogs and peanuts?