Misconduct | Sports you grew to love over time

When I was young, I didn’t like football. Later, with twins who played football all five years of high school, I “had” to go and cheer them on. I learned the rules and strategies of this sport. I’m not an expert, but I still love learning. We have had Alouettes season tickets for 16 years and I have also watched and followed the NFL for a few years. In fact, since Laurent Duvernay-Tardif joined the Chiefs. There are four NFL fans in the family and we each root for a different club. We have a lot of fun teasing each other.

Until I met my lovely wife from Winnipeg, I considered curling a very boring sport. I must have wanted to know more about this sport, which is very popular in the west of the country. She explained to me the rules, the texture of the ice, the sweep and above all the strategy behind each throw. If you think sinking a 25-foot putt in golf is difficult, how about throwing a 45-pound stone with a curve (curl) through your opponent’s stones, more than 150 feet away, to place it on the one-foot-diameter circle in the center of the house? It is a sport that is played in an equally competitive and interesting way for both men and women. Go, curl, go!

About six years ago, I became interested in tennis. Previously, I only saw it as an exchange of balls, understanding nothing of the rules. Then, my 96-year-old aunt kept talking to me about it, having been a fan of this sport for a long time herself. So, to be able to communicate with her, I told myself that I had to learn how it works. I fell in love with this sport. Tennis offers an interesting combination of strategy, endurance and competition. As it is an individual sport, the player can only rely on himself. The pace of the game and the dynamics of the exchanges make this sport quite captivating. Before each televised match, my aunt and I call each other and we bet on a player, it makes the match even more interesting. And we call each other again at the end of the match to discuss it.

I was what we call hyperactive, a real little tornado. They wanted to introduce me to golf, but the hyperactive person in me found a way to run towards the ball, eager to hit it. So I told myself that golf was not for me. Until one day, lover of summer, I said to myself that spending four hours outside in a bucolic environment should make me happy and above all teach me to relax. And it was the sting, to the great surprise of those around me! Today, in retirement, the word golf is synonymous with passion more than any other sport and activity.

Until this summer, I had no interest in rugby. It must be said that it is not a sport that we are exposed to on TV. But at the Paris Olympic Games, I came across a women’s match by chance. And I didn’t change the channel until the end. I even found myself searching the event calendar to see when I could see other games. Rugby was my discovery of these Games.

I took hockey too seriously and the PK Subban trade seriously affected me. I decided to skip hockey for years and started to get interested in baseball. Since then, I have really enjoyed this sport. I am interested in the regulations and the performances of the many teams. I also appreciate the commentators who often explain the game in detail, I learn a lot. Also, the Americans’ love for this sport appealed to me. Last year, I took a trip to Boston to watch a baseball game with our neighbors. What an atmosphere! There you have it, this sport relaxes me when I have worries.

Alpine skiing. When we were young, it was hockey and baseball. One of my friends did alpine skiing. It was too expensive for my parents. Then in 2000, at the age of 45, it was the bite. My brother-in-law had rented a chalet where the whole family gathered. During two months, I discovered a sport that I have been practicing ever since. Being retired, I have taught skiing to snow classes for the last eight seasons. For 25 years, it has been a sport that has been good for me, who loves winter. In addition, as I was having panic attacks, I noticed a reduction in my anxiety over time. With November coming up, I’m experiencing less seasonal depression as I’m training and preparing for the new ski season. The bottom line is that you have nothing to lose by trying new activities, but everything to gain.