On Being a Sports Fan

Pray for my wife, no one deserves it more. On the other hand, she knew what she was getting into when she married me.

I love watching sports. I love not just the big play stuff, but I love watching the little things that go on behind the meat and potatoes.

I love watching how baseball players back up plays, just in case the ball gets past. It may happen 5 times out of a thousand chances (0.5% for you number geeks), but the back up can save a game if there is a throwing error.

I love watching players stunt in football, trying to deflect opposing players from the true intent of a play. Great fakes pulling players out of position on both offense and defense, stuff like that is a big part of what makes great plays great.

But I also love the banter and the fluff. I LOVE reading Bill Simmon's column, The Sports Guy's World on ESPN.com. Not just because of his sports knowledge, but his sense of humor and love of movies. He not only loves sports, but he loves pop culture, his wife, his kids, and the teams he grew up watching and supporting. I can get behind that.

But not all is sports, as this letter and response comes from the latest edition of his mailbag:

Q: Shouldn't Elizabeth Perkins have faced statutory rape charges in "Big"? -- Chuck D., Clifton Park, N.Y.
Sports Guy: Absolutely. The rules are explicit here -- if you have consensual sexual relations with anyone not legally old enough to consent to such behavior, it's statutory rape regardless of whether they turned themselves into an adult by making a wish to a Zoltar machine. Perkins' character worked with Josh Baskin (the Tom Hanks character) in New York City when the age of consent was 15 years old. Well, Baskin was only 13 at the time. So there you go.

So there you go... That's funny. I love this stuff. Pray for my wife!

Photo and italic content from ESPN.com, just follow the hyperlinks!