by Deb Seymour ~ June 28, 2022
Every sports fan, the world over, has their own story about how they evolved into a fan of the sports they care about. It doesn’t really matter where you grew up; if you like sports and either play a sport or just enjoy watching it, you’ve got a story to tell about it. And here’s mine.
I grew up in Washington Heights, one of the northernmost neighborhoods in New York City’s Manhattan — a decent walking distance from Riverdale, in the Bronx. I’m the second of seven children, the oldest of whom is my sister “R” who was always a “tomboy.” Or at least, that’s what she was called when we were kids.
R was one of those little girls who was as interested in taking ballet classes as she was in running and playing ball and swimming; and was she ever competitive… No matter what the activity, she had to be the best at it. Always. She overshadowed me in almost everything, but the result was that I picked up a lot of my early childhood tendencies from her, because how could she possibly be best at everything?
I also have a younger sister and four younger brothers, however; and ultimately, in the long-run, it was my brothers who shaped me into the sports fan I am today. The two eldest of my brothers played every sport you can with a ball, and they were skaters and swimmers, as well. Our apartment wasn’t small, but my four brothers shared a room — and when the two oldest hit their teens, you could barely walk into that room without a hockey stick or a helmet or a pair of skates hitting you.
The oldest of my brothers, “E,” was a goalie. He was big and he could hold his own in net — and he acquired the nickname “Boomer.” The second of my brothers, “M,” was fast. He was fast on the ice; but he was also a fast runner. He was (and is) even more competitive by nature than my older sister, and he had a mischievous sense of humor to go along with that need to win.
E and M were rabid New York Ranger fans; and by the time I was 12, so was I. We listened to games on the radio a lot, because there was one tv for the entire family and not everyone wanted to watch hockey. E and M also listened to baseball games on the radio, especially on a Sunday afternoon when they weren’t outside playing.
I learned about hockey and baseball from my brothers; I played some basketball in high school; and I was always a swimmer and could play any sport that requires a racquet. Ping pong, paddleball, tennis — you name it — I was pretty good at it. I even played handball with all the boys when I was a kid, because I was better than most of them and they liked the competition.
I remember recess in the school playground. The sixth grade teacher played soccer with his class every day, and all the rest of us from the other classes would have to intermingle with their game and try not to get hit by the ball. Mr. W was tall and quick, and he was always yelling “Good shot” whenever one of the kids in his class had, what I assume was, a good shot.
But I also remember being much younger, in kindergarten, and sitting in small chairs at small tables with all the other kids and watching the boys trading baseball cards. This fascinated me. Who was this Tom Seaver guy they were always talking about? Had any of them ever actually been to a real live baseball game at Shea Stadium or Yankee Stadium?
I do recall the very first Rangers game I went to, and it was with my brothers. We sat all the way up in the cheap seats at Madison Square Garden; and in those days, it wasn’t uncommon for people to smoke during games (or even in smoking sections at the movies, or on airplanes). People were smoking joints all around us; and my very first recollection of a live hockey game is of that day’s aroma as much as of the live action on the ice.
Neither of my parents were particularly athletic, nor were they really interested in sports. I think those of their kids who became sports fans somehow figured it all out through school and friends and summer camps and exposure to the media. By the time I grew up, there were other ways of learning about sports, through other kinds of relationships and wider exposure to the media. And somehow, therefore, I arrived where I am today.
Thank you to my siblings — and to all the sports fans and icons I’ve met along the way. You taught me to include in my life something that gives me the greatest enjoyment, and that makes me feel a part of something greater than myself. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Big Apple Bite Sports 