I also attended Tampa Bay Bucs & Rays games since that young age. I guess theres a hometown loyalty there, but also an inheritance factor. Some of which came from my mom as well; as a former Miami 'Dolphin Doll,' she's always been exposed to sports too. Baseball was important in both their households and was naturally carried into ours. I vividly remember attendinng opening day for the then Devil Rays with my dad at Tropicana Field. I guess I mainly associate with teams in my area, but also in areas where I have family or other sorts of connections. This year though, the Rays have become even more of a family matter; my cousin moved from the Cleveland Indians minor league system to become their Assistant Athletic Trainer this magical season.
Another thing is that when I was younger, I had a bit of 'sports ADD.' I would stay with a sport for about a year before becoming bored with it I guess. I went from gymnasticcs and dance to softball, swimming, tennis to even horseback riding and flag football. I never really did soccer or basketball then, which carries into my sports preferences today.
Though I've mentioned the family factor, I think its also important that I was an only child until age 8 when my little brother was born. In addition, most of the cousins around my age are boys. This meant my companions from an early age were male, possibly influencing my love of sports. I was supposedly the girl playing sports with all the guys in recess as well.
I guess I've saved my favorite sport for last; I am a huge hockey fan! This probably began with my dad and I going to Tampa Bay Lightning games since they started as well. Also, hockey doesn't appear that important in the South [though its on the rise!]. Since both sides of my family hail from New York, I may have gotten a bit of this obsession from them. I have to admit the reason I stuck with hockey when I was younger was because it was different; not many people I knew followed it. Now, I appreciate it a little more, maybe now that the Lightning have a Stanley Cup in their history. I also like that its been pretty scandal free, the guys leave it all out on the ice. Though the lockout was pretty upsetting [right after that Stanley Cup!], there is an absence of steroid problems that I find refreshing. Plus, they each have such interesting stories [and accents!].
Thats really how I see myself arriving at the sport managment major, though I can take this time to say I was admitted for journalism and switched the second day of Preview. I was a high school journalism to the max, considering sports news. The yarning to be different may have stuck again as I met so many journalism majors and I wasn't really into the life of a professional journalist.
All in all, I can see myself with a hockey team since that sport tops my list or with the Rays due to my family connection. I'd have no problem staying in Tampa with my career since thats where my heart is, but it may be better to branch out while still loving Tampa sports [that way it won't be so personal].
Thats the main reason for choosing a map of my hometown for this page. Click here to follow my institutional map