My Name Is

While there might be a couple good reasons to bring me onto a group blog, one of them isn’t my sports knowledge. When the weekly pub trivia night comes around, our team draft can usually count on me to produce solidly in the culture and current events categories, with a couple clutch saves in science and whatever random nonsense the quizmaster tosses into the mix. Usually the discussion on a sports question where we’ve hit a roadblock goes something like this:

Darryl: Couldn’t it be the Giants?
Team: You just picked the Giants because that could work as a baseball or football answer, didn’t you?
Darryl: Maybe…
Team: Well, that’s a good effort, but it really doesn’t help us figure out who won the Masters in 1986, now does it.
Darryl: That’s the one with the hoop, right?

Then, at the beginning of this summer, something strange happened. My friend Brendan decided to try talking me into becoming an NBA fan. Seeing as I was returning to the Pacific Northwest, and the draft was about to happen, what followed was a two hour long dissertation on Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, and how Kevin Garnett might be the second coming of Christ. I was intrigued and wished to subscribe to his newsletter. Which I did. In the form of YouTube-ing the beejeesus out of Kevin Durant hilight reels.

I was sold.

But this isn’t about how I got so hooked on the game that I had a minor freakout when Durant came down badly on his ankle against the Warriors, putting his regular season opener in jeopardy. I’ve come to terms with the fact that basketball is fucking cool. No, this is about how I’m this close to getting conned into caring about professional football by blogs like Kissing Suzy Kolber. And about how perhaps in a few months, I’ll be able to make a joke comparing the change in my trivia squad to the players on my fantasy basketball team. Because now I have a fantasy basketball team.

Hi, I’m Darryl and I’m a recovering sports anti-fan and I promise my next post will be more indie than this.