Inside SFS

Root, Root, Root For Your Home Team

Growing up, some of my fondest memories were watching major professional sporting events with my entire family.

Whenever our home team was playing in a big game, rain, sleet, snow or shine, we gathered at a relative’s home – each of us wearing the Pittsburgh black and gold from head to toe.

We always looked forward to Mama’s famous baked beans, and Granny’s homemade mac and cheese. Everybody had their special seat around the television – Dad in his bean bag that was molded just to his body type and Mom had the reclining Lazy boy – with grooves perfectly shaped to fit her arms. We kids jockeyed for the best position according to age, and ultimately we would settle in, as a family to enjoy the thrill of victory and (all too often) the agony of defeat!

Today, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the home team that I grew up rooting for, is playing my new home team- the Giants. I am raising kids who were born 2250 miles (door to door) away from my hometown, and have had the wonderful thrill of seeing the Giants win the world series twice in a period of four years! It has made it hard raising a Pittsburgh fan in San Francisco….

Nevertheless, it is ultimately not whom my kids root for, but instead that we have the opportunity to root together – as a family. We do our best to replicate Mama’s beans and Granny’s mac and cheese as well, and, call it a generational thing, but somehow I always get the least comfy seat in the house? For my wife and me, it continues to be about developing a sense of civic pride and spending time with one another as a family. Whether you are a sports fan or not, I hope that you too can find some joy in tonight’s game, and join me in helping our children feel proud to be from one of the greatest cities in the world! May the best team win. Now, Let’s Go Pirates!

Posted October 01, 2014