PlanJam!From your screen to the scene

One of the most exciting dates you can ever have can be found at the end of a visceral celebratory sporting event. When the home team wins in a landslide, or even just barely scores, there is a palpable energy in the air that puts everyone in the best of spirits. Unfortunately you can’t always guarantee that your team will be the victor, but with a bit of research you can still have an enjoyable time - even if you have very little idea of what is going on.

Sports, like many other things, are seasonal. Baseball is decidedly a summer and beginning of fall sport. Collegiate football starts, appropriately enough, when the fall semester does. Basketball is usually found in the late winter and early spring and tennis is most certainly a spring and summer time sport.

Keeping track of the rules and regulations can be difficult if you have had very little exposure to sports before. However, 8 out of 10 boyfriends agree that the time to learn the rules is not when the sporting event is going on. On the way to the game, depending on the anxiety level may be a good time to ask important questions such as, “who are we playing?” or “who are we rooting for?” If these questions are posed in the middle of the game this may be your last event for quite a while.

A fantastic resource for increasing your athletic learning curb is Liz Hartman Musiker’s appropriately titled book, The Smart Girl’s Guide to Sports: A Hip Handbook for Women Who Don’t Know A Slam Dunk from a Grand Slam. Originally written to help women in the office bridge the gender gap that many sporting events create, this guide is a must for not only wowing your guy, but also learning how to love the games. As one reader exclaimed, “Boyfriends come and go, but football is forever.”

Speaking of football, there are probably more books geared towards introducing women to the game than any other sport. A tongue in cheek book co written by Holly Robinson Peete, a wife of a pro football player, is Get Your Own Damn Beer, I’m Watching the Game!: A Woman’s Guide to Loving Pro Football. Robinson Peete not only explains the rules and regulations of the game, but also goes into detail of the history of the sport.

A sport that is quickly switching gears and trying to lure more women fans is NASCAR. At first may not find any method to the madness of ornately decorated cars whizzing around a track at break neck speeds. Once you learn a few of the rules you will soon discover how much sport is involved. Shereee Woodington’s The Woman’s Guide to the NASCAR Season is a perfect place to become familiar with the lingo.

However, don’t worry if you never become a true fan. There is a reason why some of the best shops have sales when major sporting events are on the television. Give your guy some time to become one with his team, just make sure to check the score before you call him. A botched field goal can ruin the mood.