Getting Into Sports This March Maddness
March Maddness is on the horizon, which means basketball fans and general sports lovers will be brought together later this month to drink beer and yell at the screen together. You have probably heard people at work talk about starting a bracket, and you may or may not follow the sport regularly, but there no avoiding it.
If you can’t beat them, join them? There are ways to sneak sports into your dating life and actually make it enjoyable. For starters, go to games! Even if you don’t follow the sport, every game tends to have hype music, entertaining fans, food and drinks. Sure everything is overpriced, but it it is deffinitely a different dating atmosphere than your usual dinner and movie combo. Plus, if it is a first date and you don’t hit it off, you can just not talk and pay attention to the game itself.
Alternativelty, you can just go to a bar or bring your date back home and make sexy wagers on the game. You win, you get your way with them. They win, well then the ball is in their court. More innocently of course, loser can cover the bar tab or get the next round.
What else can you do? Why not try playing the sport itself? Go check out the courts and try it out with a date or your partner. Sure, it may be hilarious and even embarrassing, but at least you will show off your fun, playful side. As long as you are a good sport, you and your date can play fair and actually show each other some moves.
Let’s say worse comes to worse, and you hate the sport even after giving it a try. Then you need to be open with your partner or date. Let them know you aren’t the biggest basketball fan, and it is ok to not include you in sports outings moving forward. Maybe those nights are when you hang with your friends, and he goes out with his. You don’t need to do everything together. It is actually nice to have space.
Plus, if you are going to join your date at all the games and absolutely dread it, your negative energy may be infectious, which is an immediate downer. You don’t have to like everything they do. However if you are open to learning more about the game and actually want to pay attention, do it.
I knew hardly anything about football before my boyfriend, but years later I am a pro. However, I never caught on with basketball. I like it, but don’t get it. So I choose not to watch it with my partner. Sure, I will go to the court with him every now and then, but he is very aware it is a rare occasion to just spice things up. Sometimes that extra effort shows you care.
Give March Madness a chance and see if you can incorporate it into your dating life or relationship. If you try and it just isn’t for you, don’t push it. To each their own. Just make it known to your partner that you are sitting this season out and staying on the sidelines. Not every relationship is like Love and Basketball. Others are basketball and catch you later, which is fair game.
Born and raised in Northern Virginia, Christina aspires to be a public relations professional in a big city after graduation from James Madison University. In her free time when she’s not blogging away about dating and relationships, Christina loves to go shopping, watch Netflix and play with every puppy that crosses her path.