I enjoyed watching the Olympics, especially the water sports. Below is a pic of Chay Lapin, the backup goalie for the U.S. Men's Olympic Water Polo Team. He's a coach for the younger kids at my sons' club water polo team and had a question and answer session at our end of the season party last weekend. (Hmm, could be a romance cover model, don't you think?)
I love watching almost all sports. I can walk by a TV where two teams I don't even know are playing some sport I don't really care about, and I'll stop for a minute and start screaming for one or the other team to score a goal/basket/touchdown/homerun/whatever. Then I'll walk on by. I live in a household of males and yet I'm the only one in the family who yells and jumps up and down when I'm watching sports on TV--must be the former high school cheerleader in me.
My favorite sport to watch live is...soccer. L.A. doesn't have a football team, and the Lakers have too many games to follow and the tickets are really expensive. Although the L.A. Kings won the Stanley Cup this year, I've been to only one of their games. I've been to a few Dodger games but ever since my husband got some tickets through work for one of the hospitality suites where you get free Dodger dogs, peanuts, popcorn, nachos, beer and wine and a dessert cart in the 7th inning, I just can't bring myself to sit in the cheap seats out in right field anymore!
So, I go to L.A. Galaxy games at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. This year I had the opportunity to go in with a group on season tickets. My share gets me 20 tickets, so I can go to all 20 games by myself or snag 4 tickets for 5 games, which is what I opt to do. Lucky for me, the guy who runs the group has been going to Galaxy games since before they moved from the Rose Bowl, so our tickets are prime seats - in the first row, almost behind the Galaxy bench. Yes, I'm thisclose to David Beckham on the field! (This picture was taken during warm-ups before the game with the telephoto lens on my little camera, but we do have a clear view of the field.)
When Becks first moved to L.A. to play for the Galaxy, I read an article about his security detail in the U.K. and how most of them weren't coming with him because they couldn't get work visas. The article then went on to state that Beckham probably wouldn't need as much security here anyway because he wasn't as well known in the U.S. as he was in Europe. That one statement inspired me to write a romantic comedy, KICK IT UP, about an English soccer player who comes to the U.S. to play for a failing Major League Soccer team. My hero is not at all like Becks, who is happily married with four adorable children. My soccer-playing hero is randy and rowdy, although deep down he's a sensitive soul. I had so much fun writing that book, I'm planning on a follow-up involving the same fictional soccer team, the L.A. Waves.
Leave a comment today about your favorite sport (or athlete) for a chance to win one of my Guardians of Coral Cove books, OBSESSION, EYEWITNESS, INTUITION, or DECEPTION or if you have a Kindle, you can choose to win a copy of my romantic comedy, KICK IT UP. I will post the name of the winner(s) on Friday.
I do love the Olympics. The whole family sits & watches it which is kind of cool in itself.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of sports people, David Beckham is always the first that comes to mind. Probably because he is all over the media. He is an amazing athlete.
Marybelle, that's great to get the family together to watch the Olympics. Beckham is still a great player - I know he got cut from England's Olympic team, but he's been great for MLS.
DeleteI can enjoy just about any sport if I'm watching it live. I don't really enjoy sports on TV, but occasionally I do watch soccer on TV with my husband...admittedly the eye candy in professional soccer helps hold my attention. :)
ReplyDeleteWendi, I have to admit, that's one of the attractions of soccer - the eye candy, especially during the World Cup!
DeleteDavid Beckham is mighty fine, could use a few less tattoos though. I hear he's not too smart which means the bloom would be off the rose pretty quick, but boy, the fun we've had before then....
ReplyDeleteCarol, I happened to love sports also! I grew up in Southern Cal so I love all the Cal teams, even college! This makes my spouse very happy! I was the only girl in the family so I learned early to be a "sports girl"! Even my mom is a sports person! I also played sports in school. We've moved all over the country since I've been married but I always root for my Calif. teams - Dodgers, Lakers, Trojans, etc. Sorry but I really never got into soccer! I do, however, love the Olympics and watch so much TV when they are on! Enjoyed your post! Love your books too :)
ReplyDeleteOh no, Valri, you're a TROJAN fan? LOL I went to UCLA and my husband went to USC, so there's a bit of a conflict in our house when it comes to college football.
DeleteAnne, I've heard the same about Beckham, but honestly, when an athlete can parlay his skill on the soccer pitch (or football field, etc.) into hundreds of millions of dollars - he ain't stupid!
ReplyDeleteI used to like watching our soccer team - Vancouver Whitecaps - circa 1980 back in the days of the NASL. Lots of good looking guys on soccer teams back then!
ReplyDeleteThese days sports I like to watch are horseracing, baseball, diving, and sometimes gymnastics or ice dancing.
Cheryl, I went to a couple of Galaxy-Whitecaps games this season - Whitecaps were doing well and then started having a string of losses. Yes, lots of eye candy on soccer teams!
DeleteI enjoy most sports but I LOVE soccer. My daughter played it for years and I enjoyed every minute of watching her play. I would love to see David Beckham play. My 30 year old daughter thinks he's really HOT. I do too, but he is a bit young for me. I didn't watch a lot of the Olympics this time, except for swimming, because I read most of the results online before the tv showing. Kind of took the fun out of it for me. I do enjoy football too. My poor Kansas City Chiefs haven't had a good team in a while but there is always hope for them.
ReplyDeleteLinca, that's how I really started getting into soccer too - both of my boys played and my younger son still plays on a club team and will be playing for his high school team this year too. We love having Becks on the Galaxy - he's still good (a little young for me too!).
DeleteI picked a great year to become a baseball fan, the Nationals are having an outstanding year. I watch every game (mostly at home - I do have a family to care for, but I have dragged them all to Nats park) My kids are wondering who I am and what the aliens did with their mom. :) Lovin' baseball right now!
ReplyDeleteSusan, how fun when your team is doing great!
DeleteNASCAR & Volleyball are the sports I enjoy watching. My sister is a huge baseball fan, but not me. I will say that even though I do not care for watching most sports on TV... I do prefer to actually play them.
ReplyDeleteThat's my husband, Colleen. He's not much of a sports fan, but every weekend he's out running half-marathons. We enjoyed watching Kerri and Misty in the Olympics since they're local girls - practice at Manhattan Beach.
DeleteI play competitive badminton up to five nights a week, so I better say that's my favorite sport!
ReplyDeleteAs for what I watch on television, though, I watch figure skating the most, hockey almost as much, and occasionally tennis.
I prefer playing than watching....
Wow, Laney, that's awesome! What a great way to stay in shape.
DeleteI LOVE the Olympics--summer and winter--because I love all the stories they tell of the athletes. Other than that, I'm not to huge on sports.
ReplyDeleteAnyone not read Kick It Up by Carol--get your copy today. I LOVED this book! Carol, I'm glad to hear there's a sequel in the works. That I'll happily cheer for. :)
Thanks for the plug, Stacey (no, I did not pay her). Yes, the personal stories of the athletes are moving. I thought Oscar Pistorius was just amazing this year!
DeleteI love hockey and baseball. I'm hoping there's no hockey lockout, but it's not looking good right now. I love when the Olympics come around because I get to see so many sports that don't normally get coverage like fencing or handball.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the Olympics, Jane. Curling, anyone?
DeleteI'm like you, as you know. I love sports, but I am OBSESSED with soccer. If I could only watch 1 sport for the rest of my life that would be it.
ReplyDeleteLOL - I know you're a soccer girl, Alexa, but you seem to like the international club teams - wondering if you have a favorite MLS team.
DeleteI loved watching the Olympics with my three grandsons. Their favorites were archery, fencing, and diving. Don't watch a lot of sports on TV but enjoy the Super Bowl and holiday bowls every year.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great Guardian stories that you write. They're great.
grandmabkr at yahoo dot come
Brenda, that's about the only time I watch pro football - the playoffs and the Super Bowl. Lacking a So Cal team, the S.F. Giants are my favorite team.
DeleteI love Cricket which is not known widely but is really great game. Football is my second choice. I do like the European and English championship matches.
ReplyDeleteAvi, when we were in England several years ago, we watched a cricket match - couldn't figure out what the heck was going on, but it looked fun!
DeleteI love to watch sports period (my TV is usually tuned to Sportscentre highlights when the good shows aren't on) but my favorite is hockey, hands down. The Olympics are awesome too although I'm more of a winter sports girl than a summer. I'm just jealous that I suck at sports haha
ReplyDeleteUgh, I'm there with you on sucking at sports, especially team sports. I was a pretty fast runner and a fast swimmer in my day, but I didn't like the competition.
DeleteI'm envious that you get to the Galaxy games. I live in the San Fernando Valley and it's a little too far for us to drive to the stadium. The Olympics were fantastic especially the women teams. NBC did a good job of broadcasting the games although I would have loved to see the US Basketball's final game at a later time. The team had a lot of our Laker players.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Betty, that's a bit of a drive from the Valley to Carson. Weren't the U.S. women's teams fantastic! Soccer, basketball, beach volleyball, water polo, team gymnastics - they ruled!
DeleteI like basketball. Nice that you got to see David Beckham.
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)comm
My boys like basketball. Once when they were younger, we saw Kobe Bryant outside a Quizno's on his cell phone. I told the boys to ask him for his autograph, but they were too shy. While we were getting in the car, we saw an adult approach him for his autograph and Kobe signed while he was still on the phone. The Lakers practice in a facility near our town, so we do see them around once in awhile.
DeleteMy adult son is so obsessed with Kobe, Carol! He would absolutely love to meet him or even see him! You are so lucky you've seen him. He would love to do that some day! Now that he lives in Philadelphia (grad school next two years) I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon!
DeleteValri, funny story about Chay, the Olympic water polo player above - he said he was standing near Kobe on the way into the Closing Ceremonies and Kobe gave him his phone and asked him to take some pics of him. Chay said when he had the phone,a bunch of texts kept coming through for Kobe. Chay said he considered texting himself from Kobe's phone or taking off with the phone and selling it to TMZ. LOL Yes, here in L.A. we do have our celebrity sightings - I see them at the airport all the time!
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