Misconduct | What sport have you grown to love over time?

The section where journalists from the Sports team The Press answer a question with pleasure.

Richard Labbe

I loved baseball at a very young age, because in the early 1980s, my chums and I went through the Olympic Stadium garage with bats and gloves to hit real balls left in the bullpen when the Expos were on the road. Then, when I came to Sports in 1999, I hated baseball because those guys were the least “talkable” in all of professional sports; I remember Mark McGwire talking to me 15 seconds after promising me an interview for three days in a row. But when my young boys took up ball, much later, I rediscovered what I initially loved about ball: the smell of grass, hot dogs, the sound of a ball in a glove, and the “good eyes!” » which is thrown repeatedly to each selective hitter. It inspired me to write a first novel, A girl and a butterfly balland it inspired me to write a sequel, which I am currently writing. I hope for the return of the Expos like Elvis fans still hope for his return. In both cases, it seems very improbable to me.

Mathias Brunet

I played soccer between the ages of 6 and 11, but at a very low level. My greatest achievement remains a recall for a match in the intercity team in Pierrefonds, a meeting during which I did not touch the field once. My passion as a young athlete branched off towards tennis as a teenager, but my interest, as an apprentice journalist, focused mainly on the Canadian, the Expos and John McEnroe. Soccer was not in the picture. I had to cover Impact soccer matches at the Claude-Robillard Center in my first years at The Pressat the time of Nick De Santis, Mauro Biello and Patrick Leduc, but I felt like a dog in a bowling game. Then, about ten years ago, my two sons were admitted to the Impact Academy at the same time, the oldest as a midfielder, the youngest as a goalkeeper. They spent four years there. The first trained on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, the second on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and there were the weekend matches. I could have set up camp at the entrance to the Saputo stadium (they moved the training site to the Nutrilait Center in year 3)! I embraced my sons’ passion. We have attended countless games at Saputo Stadium. The arrival of Didier Drogba, and his three goals in his first match, remains an unforgettable memory. The youngest returned to his first love, hockey. The second still plays football, in Arkansas. And I remained a football enthusiast.

Katherine Harvey-Pinard

I remember when I was a teenager: the television in the family home was always on RDS – except in the morning, it was Hi Hello. When I sat down on the sofa and it was Formula 1 on the screen, I changed the channel. “To see that people consider it a sport! », I said loudly to my father, who also did not appreciate this sport. Today, at the age of 29, I am almost ashamed! It’s a sport, and all one! As a journalist, the Canadian Grand Prix has become my favorite annual event. I look forward to it starting in January every year. I devour racing and I love following everything that happens off the track.

Nicholas Richard

Even though I grew up in the heart of the Laurentians and 15 minutes from the mountains, I never heard the call of alpine skiing during my childhood. Mainly because my winters were dedicated to hockey and for my circle of friends too. However, at the 2014 Olympic Games, I fell in love with a certain Mikaela Shiffrin, winner of the slalom gold medal at the Sochi Games. That same winter, I skied for the first time. Since then, I have never stopped. Not only do I slide down the Laurentian slopes several times a week, but I also wake up early in the morning in winter to follow the World Cup circuit. I don’t miss a race. I love the intensity, the rivalries, the complexity, the emotions and the stories linked to this extraordinary sport. And you have to know how to ski at least to understand how aliens the best skiers in the world are to be able to reach those speeds and attack turns like they do.

Simon-Olivier Lorange

Without a shadow of a doubt baseball. It was the first sport my parents signed me up for when I was little, and although I didn’t completely dislike it, I often found the time very long on defense. My first presence at a Montreal Expos game also confirmed to me that watching the pros play wasn’t exactly fun either. After ignoring this sport for around fifteen years, I returned out of professional obligation in 2007, when I was called to cover the Sherbrooke Expos, a senior team. This is where I “understood” a little how to appreciate the experience and the slowness of this sport. To this day, I am still not a die-hard fan, but I have experienced, for around fifteen years, magnificent summer evenings in baseball stadiums, notably that of the Capitales de Québec.

Eric Martel

When I was very little, as I wanted to be like my brothers, I asked my parents to sign me up for hockey. The problem was, I hated workouts. I didn’t understand anything about the game, and especially, about offsides. I preferred watching the commercials, the parents in the stands, in short, everything except the puck. I was so little involved in the game that I was (affectionately?) nicknamed the tourist. So I retired from hockey at the ripe old age of 9. It was only later, watching Sheldon Souray’s sinkers, Saku Koivu’s courage and Andrei Markov’s skillful passes that I fell in love with the sport. Looking back, giving up hockey may have been the worst decision of my life. At least I can pick myself up by hosting the chats occasionally!

Jean-François Tremblay

Some will immediately cry sacrilege, but I had very little interest in, let alone exposure to, the NFL growing up. I followed the Alouettes a little because of their geographic proximity, but very little the NFL. To tell you the truth, I had a hard time accepting a league that doesn’t reward failure with a point. Everything changed during the 2004-2005 NHL lockout. The disappearance of hockey left a gaping hole in my fall and winter sports calendar, and the NFL was able to fill part of it. At the same time, I was beginning my career in sports media, and as a green recruit, I worked every Sunday that the good Lord brought us. All that put together, I slowly learned to appreciate the NFL.