Welcome To Only Child Diaries

Welcome to the Only Child Diaries Podcast. I'm your host, Tracy Wallace. Have you ever felt like you didn't receive the how-to brochure on life? That you didn't get enough guidance about major life issues? So did I. You don't have to be an only child to feel this way. In my podcast, we'll explore some of the best ways to better navigate adulthood while doing so with humor and light. Welcome everyone to the Only Child Diaries Podcast.

Why Talk About Sports

Today I'm gonna talk about sports. Now, if you're not a big sports fan, don't go away. And I hope that if you are a sports fan, you won't think any less of me after listening to this episode. Let me explain. I am not a huge sports fan, meaning that I don't sit and watch a lot of sports. I I keep track of different teams in kind of a loose a loose way, right? I mean, okay, I graduated from USC and I'm a Trojan at heart and I enjoy the USC UCLA football rivalry as much as anyone. Do I go to the games? No. Do I watch all the games? No. If I get a chance to see the USC UCLA game on TV, I will watch it. But I'm the kind of person that has to be doing something else while I'm watching sports. Because let's face it, a game goes a long time in my mind. It's hard for me to just sit and concentrate on a game because it's too long.

Football Versus Baseball Attention Spans

Okay, but football isn't really my favorite sport. I do like baseball mostly because I understand it. I I understand the strategy. I know that it's not just a bunch of guys hitting a ball with a stick and running around bases. I I understand that their strategy. And perhaps the people that have tried to explain it to me didn't really fully understand how to explain something like this, right? But anyway. But I do enjoy watching a football game when somebody gets the ball and they get to run all the way to the other side. What's frustrating to me is when they, you know, set set up and then they they they throw the ball and then they only get to run like a a yard. And I think, what's the point? It just seems boring. Okay, I said it. Okay, I said it. I'm sorry. And it's frustrating. It's frustrating for me. So anyway, but I I I do I will watch football, but I I'm just not a huge, I'm not a huge fan.

Discovering Fast Paced Vegas Hockey

Okay. So what I what we discovered recently, my husband and I, uh, maybe in the last couple years, was ice hockey. Only because we love Vegas. We've been there so many times. We haven't been recently, but that's another story. But um, it was a couple years ago when the Vegas Knights hockey team made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs, and so we were watching on TV, and we both realized how much we love hockey, and we love the Vegas Knights, and we love Vegas, and I realized that this was a game that I could get behind. Why? Because it's quick, or it seems quick, rather, at least. It's fast-paced, right? I mean, it's hard to keep track of the puck because it goes back and forth, and there's a lot of um, I don't want to say violence. Is violence the right word? There's a lot of uh guys smashing into each other, hurling themselves against the wall. It's it's dramatic. And it's it's you have to really pay attention because you have to follow that puck. You know, I don't really understand all the terms. We don't together, we don't understand the terms, and we don't understand the strategy, except you gotta get that puck in the net, right? So that's a game that I can get behind. But that being said, I'm not gonna sit and watch a whole season of it. No, I'm I'm not. But we did watch the Stanley Cup playoffs that ended um this week and kind of disappointed that the Vegas Knights didn't win. They came in second, though, and in my book, that's good, but it's I know it's not good for them.

The Real Work Of Attending Games

Uh and and you know, my dad loved baseball. I I do enjoy going to a game once in a while, but it's a lot of work because you have to go, you have to park, you have to walk to your seats. If you want to get food, there's a line, then you go back to your seat, you watch the game. Um, and for me, I always have to go to the bathroom, right? And so then I have to walk to the bathroom, there's a line for the bathroom because I'm a woman, and there's always a line for a woman in the bathroom. Always, it doesn't matter. There's a lot of walking. There might be a lot of sun, so I feel like I'm drained at the end of the day. Um, it's expensive. Then you have to walk out to your car, then you have to sit in your car to try to get out of the stadium parking lot. Now, I'll say that the Dodgers parking lot, if you've ever been, is really a bear to get out of. Whereas the Angels Stadium, which is down in Orange County here in the SoCal area, is so much easier. I don't know what it is, but when I've been there, it's like in and out. Just in and out. Um, I think they're much better organized for whatever reason. So that is uh that's good in my book, but it's further away for me. I it's not, you know, Dodger Stadium is like right down the street, kind of. Um, I mean not really, but it it is. But but it also impacts traffic here. What can I say about that? There's always traffic. There's always traffic. Anyway, that's my take on

World Cup Energy Without Watching

sports. Now, for right now, going on is the World Cup soccer, and everything that is going on now is about the soccer. I don't know if it's like this everywhere else because the soccer games are here, but you go out, people are wearing their jerseys for the different countries. There's all kinds of merch everywhere related to the games. Uh, there's, you know, food experiences related to the games. Everybody's doing merchandise tie-ins with the games, trying to capitalize on this. And all the fans, you know, there's a lot of people coming to the LA area from other countries to see their teams play. Um, so it's kind of exciting. Have I watched any of the games? No, I haven't. But I support it. I do, I support it, and I know there's all the watch parties, and I think it's great. Like, if you are a soccer fan, more power to you. I think that's a good thing. Everybody's got to have a hobby, right? Everybody's everybody's gotta have a hobby. And like I love the Olympics, I love the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics, I think it's great. I just I just don't have time to sit and watch a three or four hour game every day. I just I don't. I have too many things to do. So that's yeah, that's where I am with sports.

Sports Money And Community Giving

And um, but it's a it's a huge industry, isn't it? And the players, the teams, the owners, and a lot of it, um, I think a lot of times the teams support the community. They they give back to the community. Do they give back enough to the community? You know, that remains to be seen. I think it depends on the team, but I know a lot of teams they do their community outreach, and I think that that's a great thing. So I'm gonna go now and not watch a game.

Wrap Up And Stay Connected

But next week, well, we'll tackle another topic together. I hope you'll join me. If you like this episode, please follow the Only Child Diaries Podcast on Apple Podcasts or other platforms you might listen on. And consider rating Only Child Diaries and writing a review. It helps others to find us. Please share it with a friend you think might like it as well. Visit my Instagram page, Only Child Diaries, or Facebook, Only Child Diaries Podcast. Thanks for listening. I'm Tracy Wallace, and these are the OnlyCild Diaries.