People often accuse me of being a sports addict, and I always disagree. I would never class myself as an addict. As soon as you admit it to yourself you become one. I often find that denial is the best medicine, or using a different word. I prefer the term connoisseur. That implies being of an intelligent nature as opposed to being of a harmful, or stupid one. Ask most people what they would like to be thought of, and intelligent is always higher than waster.
I bring this up as I'm about to take a look back at a year of being a sporting connoisseur. No game was too small. No sport was too redneck. I've learnt a lot during a year spent living in America, and most of that knowledge has come from the events below.
Martin Luther King Jnr Day (January 17 to everyone else) NBA Washington Wizards 108 v 101 Utah Jazz - my first ever basketball game. The court appeared smaller than I anticipated, I learnt a number of new hip-hop tunes and the guy next to me didn't stop eating.
January 25 NBA Washington Wizards 109 Denver Nuggets 120 - the first, and only time, I'll ever see Carmelo Anthony play for Denver (he had the usual basketball player hissy-fit and demanded a move soon after)
February 9 NBA Washington Wizards 100 Milwaukee Bucks 85 - I didn't realise Australians played basketball
February 22 NBA Washington Wizards 96 Indiana Pacers 113 - "hey Hansbrough, your mom's still hot"... I can neither confirm or deny this, all I know is it didn't put Tyler off his free throw
February 28 NBA Washington Wizards 77 Chicago Bulls 105 - Derrick Rose is the reason to watch basketball
March 1 NHL Washington Capitals 2 New York Islanders 1
March 9 NHL Washington Capitals 5 Edmonton Oilers 0
March 14 NBA Washington Wizards 89 Oklahoma City Thunder 115 - Kevin Durant is a beast
March 19 MLS DC United 3 Columbus Crew 1 - my welcoming moment to Major League Soccer, and what a surprisingly encouraging moment it was
March 29 NHL Washington Capitals 2 Carolina Hurricanes 3
March 31 MLB opening day Washington Nationals 0 Atlanta Braves 2 - very cold
April 1 NBA Washington Wizards 115 Cleveland Cavaliers 107 - The Cavs suck without LeBron
April 2 MLB Washington Nationals 6 Atlanta Braves 3 - big rain delay, very cold
April 5 NBA Washington Wizards 107 Detroit Pistons 105 - was given a Pistons hat and drank at a bar with beer taps on your table
April 9 MLS DC United 1 Los Angeles Galaxy 1 - any time you get to boo David Beckham is a good time in my book. He's not a central midfield player, and never will be. Not even at this modest level
April 15 NHL Playoffs Washington Capitals 2 New York Rangers 0 - my ears were ringing, what an atmosphere. Alexander Semin turned up, which was good of him
April 21 MLS DC United 0 New York Red Bulls 4 - I've never seen a team so scared of Luke Rodgers. Maybe United's players had heard about his criminal record
April 23 NHL Playoffs Washington Capitals 3 New York Rangers 1 - even louder this time round, especially when Sean Avery departed
April 26 MLB Washington Nationals 3 New York Mets 6
April 30 MLB Washington Nationals 1 San Francisco Giants 2 - got to see Brian Wilson's beard in the (not flesh, what's the word...) hair, I suppose
May 4 MLS DC United 2 Seattle Sounders 1
May 7 MLS DC United 0 FC Dallas 0 - dire
May 20 Conference Playoff Final AFC Wimbledon 0 Luton Town 0 (AFC Wimbledon win on penalties) - a very entertaining game, a cracking atmosphere and two fingers up to the English FA
May 26 Brigadier Gerard evening at Sandown - Not one to brag, but I secured my usual brace of winners while refusing to back Workforce (mainly out of spite).
June 1 MLB Washington Nationals 2 Philadelphia Phillies 1 - got a great seat, very cheaply, but almost passed out due to the afternoon heat
June 12 Class A South Atlantic League Asheville Tourists 3 Hickory Crawdads 12 -professional baseball at its rawest (and by that I mean worst). Asheville's starting pitcher was terrible. However, a lovely setting for a ball game, with eight different local brews on sale
June 15 MLB Washington Nationals 10 St Louis Cardinals 0 - Livan Hernandez pitches a complete game shutout
June 17 MLB Washington Nationals 8 Baltimore Orioles 4
June 21 MLB Washington Nationals 6 Seattle Mariners 5
June 25 MLS DC United 2 Houston Dynamo 2 - Houston finished runners-up to LA in the league this year. It tells you a lot about the overall standard
June 29 Class A South Atlantic League Delmarva Shorebirds 9 Greensboro Grasshoppers 4 - three hours there, three hours back, bad sunburn on both knees due to driving in shorts. Got to see Joe Flacco's (Baltimore Ravens' QB) brother play first base though, so not all bad
July 2 MLB Washington Nationals 3 Pittsburgh Pirates 5 & Washington Nationals 4 Pittsburgh Pirates 3 - yes I did watch all 18 innings on my own, but I only had to pay $1 for the privilege
July 4 MLB Washington Nationals 5 Chicago Cubs 4 - Independence Day (even though it didn't actually happen on July 4), flags, wacky outfits and a good ball game
July 7 MLB Washington Nationals 9 Chicago Cubs 10 - The Nats squander an eight-run lead, unbelievably awful
July 11 Class AA Eastern League Richmond Flying Squirrels 4 Harrisburg Senators 3 -
July 15 Class A advanced Carolina League Potomac Nationals 4 Kinston Indians 3 - friend drinks beer, friend gets sick, friend kinda ruins wife's birthday (sorry friend). On the plus side, good beer on sale
July 26 MLB Washington Nationals 2 Florida Marlins 11
August 3 MLB Washington Nationals 4 Atlanta Braves 6
August 12 Class A advanced Carolina League Potomac Nationals 1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans 0 - full house for Stephen Strasburg's second comeback game. Crowd leaves after three innings as soon as Strasburg finishes pitching (I'll admit we left too, but not until the sixth inning, and only because the seats were uncomfortable)
August 13 DC United 4 Vancouver Whitecaps 0 - Vancouver were by far the worst team I saw in Major League Soccer during 2011. I never thought, after seeing him play for Watford, that Jay DeMerit would ever be missed by a team. I was wrong
August 18 Washington Nationals 3 Cincinnati Reds 1
August 22 Washington Nationals 4 Arizona Diamondbacks 1
September 8 Washington Nationals 4 Los Angeles Dodgers 7 & Washington Nationals v Los Angeles Dodgers (postponed) - it rained, and rained, and rained
September 16 Washington Nationals 0 Florida Marlins 3
September 24 Washington Nationals 4 Atlanta Braves 1 - my parents enjoyed it so much they requested we go again the day after
September 25 Washington Nationals 3 Atlanta Braves 0 - ending the home games as they began, against Atlanta
September 30 NHL pre-season Capitals 4 Buffalo Sabres 3 - pre-season games are really, really dull
October 1 NASCAR Nationwide Series at Dover's Monster Mile - a simple sport made incredibly fan friendly, a fantastic day out
October 10 Capitals 6 Tampa Bay Lightning 5 - a barnstormer
October 18 Capitals 3 Florida Panthers 0
October 22 Racing Post Trophy Day at Doncaster - Camelot is a star in the making
October 27 Evening racing at Kempton Park - Great course, average racing, needless to say I finished in profit
October 29 League One Brentford 2 Chesterfield 1 - Uwe Rosler never sits down
November 5 League Two AFC Wimbledon 1 Barnet 1 - Izale McLeod is not liked in south London
November 8 Capitals 2 Dallas Stars 5 - the beginning of the end for Bruce Boudreau
I think you'll agree that the evidence detailed above shows in no way, shape, or form that I am addicted to sport (especially if you ignore the 55 events I attended last year, and instead concentrate on the date of my last game of the year). My denial will continue next Friday during the Wizards loss to the New York Knicks... bring on 2012!!!
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