father, son, baseball game

The football season is nearly over, spring training is in full gear and baseball’s boys of summer will soon be taking the field. I love sports, but my children are much more passionate about it than me. They know everything about every player, what his key stats are, what teams he used to play for and how much he is making. But what they love most about sports is when their Dad takes them to a sporting event.

One of my fondest childhood memories is of my own Dad taking me to see a New York Knicks game in Madison Square Garden. It was around 1971 and Bobby Russell and his Dad and me and my Dad made the 2 hour drive from New Haven to see my beloved Knicks. I was only 9 at the time but I remember everything about that glorious day. I even remember Dean Meminger getting a standing ovation.

That was the first and one of the only sports games my Dad ever took me to. He was a busy executive for a multinational firm and was always traveling to some distant land. He also did not share my enthusiasm for American sports, having been born and raised in Europe. But the fact that the memory of that Knicks game has remained with me so vividly taught me that while money may come and go, the best things you can give to a child can not be expressed merely in dollar and cent terms.

As a father, I try and take each of my four sons to sports games as often as I can. It is no surprise to me that they are always so keen to go with me and are always reminding me of their own memories from the game whether it be a crazy fan that we saw, a sports celebrity we ran into or even the traffic jam on the way to the stadium. As a father, I am rewarded by the quality time I spend with my child doing something we both find enjoyable.

Someone once told me that when a person gets old they never say “I wish I spent more time at the office.” So my advice to my fellow parents is: take your kids to a ball game. Soccer, Football, Basketball, Tennis, Baseball, Hockey, whatever. It will make your world a happier place.

Do you have a childhood memory of a sporting event that you went to with your Mom or Dad? Or a nice story about a game you took your child to? I’d like to hear about it.

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