When I arrived at work this morning my friendly coworker decided to make some small talk regarding the Diamondbacks' win last night over the Dodgers. Usually, this is all well and good, as I love talking sports with other knowledgeable fans.
Unfortunately, this young man knows next to nothing about sports. NOTHING. Here's an example:
"Good morning, fknmclane. Did you watch the Arizona Diamondbacks win last night? They scored a lot of points."
There are clearly a couple of issues with this question/statement. First of all, DBacks will suffice. Saying a team's full name is just, well, stupid. Secondly, there's no such thing as a point in a baseball game. The baseball gods decreed they are to be called runs and that is the way it has been for over a hundred friggin' years.
I'm not typically a miserable person but this kind of thing makes me insane. I don't pretend to have a doctorate or something in sports knowledge but I like to think I can discuss basketball, baseball and football (and boxing...and tennis) with some degree of expertise.
My coworker has no such confidence in his ability to speak intelligently on sports, which leads me to wonder why bring it up at all? I don't ask him what the latest, greatest anime movie is. I don't ask my architect friend about the new kick-ass t-square when we meet up. I don't create a discussion with my brother the CFP on the long-term prospects for the economy. It would be foolish and incredibly awkward to do so.
Maybe that's what is bugging me about this morning's dissecting of the DBacks win over the Dodgers last night. It was incredibly awkward to bring up Chris Young going 0-fer the night he signed his long-term contract and see a look of dumbfoundedness on this fellow's face. What exponentially increased the awkardness is that I LOVE talking sports. This instance turned out to be anything but.
What I realized this morning is that while the only thing better than watching sports is talking sports, there aren't many things worse than talking sports with those who know next to nothing about them.
I can get that on talk radio anytime.
