Father and Sons
| Posted in Baby Hulk, basketball, Family Life, Goose, Lance | 10 Comments » |
I think any man who loves sports dreams of the day when they can share that love of sports with their sons. I realize that it happens when men have girls too, heck, my love of football comes from my dad and brother. And while my dad has taken me to the National Championship Games, I don’t think that was his dream for me when I was born. But I would guarantee that was one of his dreams for my brother the day he was born.
Lance is no different. He has waited and waited to share a love of sports for almost sixteen years. Squirt turns sixteen in May, and years ago, I remember him telling us that he hated all sports except soccer! It was a dagger to the heart. Thankfully, his views have changed, but still, he doesn’t live for sports. And that’s fine. Lance is more than just a sports guy, and has other interests that he shares with Squirt.
However, sports is a huge part of our lives, I know, big news. And to be able to share his love of sports with his sons is so important to him. I can say that watching Lance with Goose and the Baby Hulk tonight only made me love him more. The joy of watching him with the boys, the rush from the game that all of them had: it was just awesome!
Sweating the game
“Why Butler?” you might ask. It started last year, somehow the boys latched onto Butler early on in the Tournament and watched every game with such intensity. I was only sad it wasn’t my Longhorns. Then they lost to Duke in the championship game. They were crushed and are now life long haters of Duke. Goose received a Butler shirt and basketball shorts for his birthday last year and wears them OFTEN.
The first of many stressful situations as a sports fan
I wondered what the boys would think of Butler this year. I shouldn’t have. They certainly haven’t forgotten about last year, and they have faithfully watched each game. (And to be honest, Duke’s loss the other night was almost better news than Butler’s win.) Goose even skipped school on Friday because he stayed up late watching Butler on Thursday night. And with the Final Four in Houston this year, Lance and I have been each praying that they kept winning. Because yes indeed, we are taking a six year old to the games. And no, we didn’t get free tickets because of his job. (I wish.)
Right now, Lance is walking around in a daze. I am not kidding. It’s like Butler is his team, but his joy only stems from the joy of sharing something you love with your kids. I get it. I have that same feeling when Goose sneaks a book into bed at night or tells the swim coach that “OU sucks”. Some people might think this is silly, but the dreams you have about your children never are. I love the smile on the faces of Lance, Goose and the Baby Hulk right now. We’re off to celebrate with pizza right now!
Pure Joy
Right before the buzzer
Victory
From Trish Olsen:
Watching the game, I kept imaging the scene at your house and wishing that your boys would not be devastated. I did the same with my daughter about 20 years ago and I can still remember the feeling as our team pulled out a miracle shot in a game for the ages and where we were sitting. She is now leading in her bracket pool and won the bowl pool. So I feel the passing on of something that I love and am glad that Lance found that.
From Jamie Demeris:
This is awesome. I guess I need a son because my wife hates sports. Uggh!
Go Butler!!!
Ps. I am kinda hoping for a VCU vs Butler matchup.
From Arthur:
This was a great article! There is no better feeling than having something to share with your kids, and sports makes it even better. Well, Butler got it done today, so I am sure that pizza was that much more special! Good read and great job done by the Mrs!
From Denise:
I love this blog post. Nothing better than a Dad & his boys loving the same thing no matter what it is. Those pictures are priceless. I admit I was praying Butler would win today when they were down. So glad it’s a happy Zierlein household this weekend. It would be awesome if Butler won it all!
We had a huge attachment to the Dallas Stars years ago with our sons. The year they won the Stanley Cup we were on vacation in Corpus & stayed up through 3 overtimes til 2am & when they finally won it was one of the most best family/sports moments of our lives. GO BUTLER!
From Shea:
So true. Poor Clint keeps trying to share that love with his kids. W’s more like Squirt, so he’s focusing on K. He’s even gotten into cheer because that’s the sport she chose and he’s so glad she’s into ANY sport, but I know he wishes she’d take up a “real” sport. (I know, I know, “cheer is a sport.” That’s crap. I’ve been watching competitive cheer for a year, and I’ll give you that it’s hard, it’s athletic, it requires talent, and it’s competitive. But a sport it is not. It COULD be. I’d love for the NCAA to recognize it so that it WOULD be. Then it would be regulated, organized, and for Pete’s sake SAFER.)
And there’s no way I end this post without giving you grief about your kid missing school because he stayed up too late watching basketball.
From Nicole:
Thanks! It’s been quite the week. The boys have been excited and despite my boredom during practice today, they watched the entire time. I hope they always remember this time.
From Nicole:
That’s a hard one when the wife doesn’t like sports. Is it bad to pray for Butler win?
From Nicole:
Thank you so much! Seriously, our interests are even better when we share then with the boys.
From Nicole:
I love that story, Denise! I hope we have a championship soon!
From Nicole:
Are you going to give me grief for taking him out of school today?!
Tell Clint, it can still happen. Maybe with the Aggies having a better year, the kids will like it better. It’s always fun to cheer for a winning team. (Plus, the Texans, Rockets and Astros all kind of stink.) I was really bummed that Texas was so bad this year since Goose was into football so much, but so far it hasn’t killed his love for the game.