Nature vs. nurture

I have been meaning to blog about this for a while, but every time I start I lose the thought track. I really enjoy sports. I don't know when it started. Maybe it started on an October day in 1970 simply as a matter of being born male. Maybe there are other reasons. (Yes, I dare to resurrect nature vs. nurture. Feel free to weigh in.) When we lived in San Diego I recall attending two sporting events. One was a football game. I think it was BYU vs. SDSU. The other was a Padres baseball game. While I don't recall who won either game I do recall having a great time. And maybe that is why I love sports, because sports equate with fun in my mind to way back.
I think I have managed to pass that along to my daughter. My in-laws have season tickets to the local ACC basketball team and have invited us on several occasions. The first time we took Grace (and she was old enough to experience it) she was a little scared and intimidated at first. But as the game developed she soaked in the atmosphere and a metamorphosis began. She went from scared and can't let go of dad to dancing on dad's lap during songs. Now, she is a fiend! She can't wait to see the next game. She wakes up most mornings and wants to see the deacon. She constantly sings the fight song or asks for it to be played on a computer. And at the game she is UNPLUGGED! She runs up and down the aisle when she can. She dances like a dervish to whatever music is playing. She can't recite most of the alphabet in order, but if you ask her what WF is, or if she sees it on a shirt, she will answer, "WF - Wake Forest Deacons!"
She might grow out of it one day. I hope not. I have too much fun with her at the games. I can act like she does (and to be honest I want to act like she does) and everyone thinks I'm doing it because of her. Maybe one day I'll be in the stands cheering her on (or being threatened to be ejected by an overly sensitive soccer ref) and I'll look back on these games and say she was nurtured into it. Maybe she got it from her old man. Either way, we are having a great time dancing and screaming at the games and I'm riding that wave like a champion surfer!
March is almost here...SURF'S UP!!!