Meet your Blogger: A Sports Geek and Borderline Weirdo (Part 1)

For those who have not read the blog description, the words that you've been reading were typed by some guy by the name of Huy, currently a third-year Journalism student at a small college in Central Pennsylvania. Before he began his college life in the States, he spent the first 18 years of his life in his home country, Vietnam. As a result, he is fluent in Vietnamese and almost fluent in English. To say that the guy has a below-average appearance would be too nice, which you can easily attest when looking at his profile picture. He is the definition of an introvert, which, for him, is admittedly an euphemism and excuse for being a weirdo. He enjoys a lot of different hobbies, including sleeping, writing, playing video games, and devouring seafood. But the trait that defines his unique weird personality is that he is a hardcore sports geek.

(Smooth transition to first-person...)

I. My (Short-Lived) Sports Career

Me pumped-up before a middle-school intramural game

I've been an avid sports fan since the very first days of my life. Unlike most other kids whose cars and action figures often top their lists of favorite toys, the mini soccer ball that my dad gave me for my third birthday had been my best friend for my entire childhood. Growing up, I played a number of different sports, including soccer, ping-pong and badminton, but mostly soccer. You might be wondering why baseball, football or basketball are not on this list, right? That's because in Vietnam, where I grew up, soccer is pretty much the religion.

When I was in elementary school, I used to play soccer literally every day, as soon as I came back from school. Back then, having a soccer ball to play with was a luxury for broke little kids like me, so pretty much everything we struck with our feet that didn't end up breaking our toes was converted to a soccer "ball;" be it a can of soda, a small carton box, or a flat tennis ball. It didn't really matter, as long as I could play soccer. I didn't receive any organized training in soccer; but because I played a lot, my skill was usually superior to peers of my age. I was even recruited to the U-12 team of a regional professional soccer club, only to see my mom turning down the offer because she was never fond of the idea of me playing sports (#AsianParents).

As I grew up to middle school, I was still playing soccer on a regular basis. However, the trickery that I possess from playing "street ball" growing up was no longer good enough to overshadow the fact that I never had any proper training. I still considered myself a slightly above-average player, but I was nowhere near the stand-out guy that I used to be in elementary.

It only got worse in high school. I was never a physically imposing guy to begin with, but stamina was not really a problem since I played so frequently. That was the case until  I was diagnosed with a chronic digestive disease and doctors subsequently recommended a reduction in physical activities. It didn't help that the skill level of other soccer players in high school was fairly higher than mine. Technical and physical inferiority meant that I was reduced to merely a role player in high school. As of now I'm still playing soccer in college, albeit just recreationally with the occasional pick-up game.

With that, I had no choice but to settle for watching sports on television and continue the pursuit of my love for sports by learning to analyze the action, in hope of becoming a sports journalist/analyst in the future. Progress on this front has been mostly positive so far.

(Smooth Transition to Third-Person...)

II. Huy's Daily Sports Life

The guy's a freak. Almost everything he does has something to do with sports. In the morning, except for days when he wakes up late and has to rush to class, the first thing he does is browsing sports news!? I mean who freaking does that? Then as soon as he arrives to class, he would browse his bookmarked sports analysis websites on his iPhone. If there's anything worth reading, he would just stare at the screen for the entire class. If there isn't anything worth reading, he would convince himself there is and just stare at the screen for the entire class. During baseball season if there's a Mets game at noon, he would somehow watch the game even if it means not fully paying attention in class. In his free time when no sports events interest him, he would sit and play hours of Madden, NBA, or FIFA. In the evening, while doing homework, he would either watch a Suns or Mets game, depending on whether it's basketball or baseball season, respectively. It's ridiculous how crazy this guy is... And then every Sunday during football season, oh my gosh, from 1 P.M. till the end of Sunday Night Football, the only things that could get him out of his seat are basic human needs. This guy even made a rule for himself not to do anything that would not allow him to stare at the TV or laptop screen during every Man United game until intermission, so the other day when MU was playing Sunderland, he put the game on his laptop and it was about two minutes into the game. He wanted to pee so bad but didn't want to break the rule so he decided to wait out till halftime. At one point his midsection couldn't resist the flow anymore so he brought his laptop into the toilet, put it on the sink, and watch the game while taking care of business. At least he was gifted with an impeccable peeing accuracy...

In short, this guy's crazy...  

(Smooth transition back to First-Person...)  

III. My Sports Fandom

Looking sharp in a Texans jersey, Mets hat,
and (not shown in picture) Suns underwear

Like most sport fans, I have my own favorite teams and/or athletes to root for. Fans, for the most part, pick their team based on where they reside. It's rare to see someone in a Yankees jersey wandering around in Boston and vice-versa. As much as I'd love to pick a hometown team to root for, last I checked there was not a single MLB, NBA, NFL franchise that plays their home games in Vietnam. I don't pick teams based on their winning records or appearances on ESPN like those fair-weather fans out there do, I instead pick talented but underachieving teams/players. I'm an optimistic guy by nature, and of course, I was very optimistic of their chances to succeed sooner or later. Hence, the New York Mets, Phoenix Suns, Houston Texans have become essential parts of my life. Man United is a different story, but to my defense, they hadn't truly established themselves as the powerhouse of the Premier League when I began to support them (1998).

I had not missed a single Premier League game featuring Man United from 1998 to 2010, when I left for the U.S. I couldn't follow MU quite as often here since their games are not televised and I tend to sleep in on Saturday morning, when the games are played. I have yet to miss a Mets game since 2009 when I purchased the MLB.TV package. I have only missed two Texans games since I began to root for them back in 2010. I didn't get to watch the Suns play a lot since I didn't really want to shell out $200/season for League Pass, a subscription package that allows users to watch replays of games. When I can watch live games online, though, I don't miss them.

So yeah, you get the idea. In the beautiful words of Kelly Clarkson, my life would suck without you sports...

(Part 2 will be a self-reflection of my personality, which, according to even some of my close friends, remains an enigma. Stay tuned!)