Let me lay some truth on you, I did not watch the Mayweather fight last night. Now I realize this was kind of a big fight for professional boxing, and by admitting that I was not watching I assume I'm in serious danger of having at least one man card revoked, but what can I say. First of all I'm poor, I can't be dishing out fifty bucks, or however much it was, to watch a fight. Now I know there's lots of other ways to view the fight, if you are reading this you have some knowledge of the internet, and I'm not going to play dumb, the stream is out there. However trumping last nights bout was the Pittsburgh Penguins and Sidney Crosby playing in Vancouver for the first time in years, and on Hockey Night in Canada no less.
Truth be told, I'm not a huge boxing fan. Which, you have to understand, is a relative statement. I watch boxing. I enjoy boxing. But I also wake up at 3:30 in the morning during the winter Olympics to catch Sweden and Finland in an team curling match. It's just how I work, I wouldn't recommend it (1), but it works for me.
Individual sports don't do it quite enough for me. The last round of a close PGA event is exciting. The Open Championship playoff was one of my favorite sports moments of the year. And won by an Irishman, might I add. Wimbledon is a treasure as well. I wish the entire sports community would pause and reflect on how lucky we are to have both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the game at the same time.
These are all great sporting events, no doubt. But still, I just can't seem to really follow it all. I tune in for big matches. The Opens, the Championships, the meetings of the greats. But as much as that is the pinnacle of the sport, I can't help but be ignorant of the rest. Yes, I saw Padraig Harrington down the stretch, but I wasn't watching on Round One when he was on the 4th hole. I only saw the spectacle at the end. It's like how most casual fans tune in for the Super Bowl.
And that's what last night was, the Super Bowl of boxing, a spectacle. And from all accounts, it was a great fight. I was pulling for Mayweather and I'm glad it didn't have to go to a decision. But even still, I'd rather be following my hockey team. Sure it was only one game out of 82, and not even a division or even conference game at that. But thats what makes a sport great. The World Series would not be as grand if 30 teams didn't go through 162 games just to have a shot at being one of the 2 teams that play in it. But the fight doesn't mean as much to me because I didn't follow these two boxers. Sure I saw Mayweather take De La Hoya in a decision earlier this year, but I haven't even ever really heard of this Hatton guy before now.
Which is exactly why I was watching the Penguins win another 2 points out West last night, because come April, May, June, maybe not this June, but hopefully some June, it's going to make it all the more worth it. Until then though, I'm gonna go check the mornings SportsCenter and catch some highlights from the fight, and keep a close hold on my man cards.
1. having your life revolve completely around sports, that is, not curling. I wholeheartedly encourage the enjoyment of curling. it's like chess on ice.
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