For the father who loves all sports, enjoy the line up this weekend.

For the husband who wears his favorite baseball cap, the remote will remain where you can see it.

For the son who schedules life around the finals, happiness is there because (at least) you plan.

For the brother who won’t take that jersey off, the load to go into the wash will wait until Monday.

For the nephew who wants that golf bag, a gift card will reach your mail box just in time.

For the cousin who dreams of being drafted, dreams do come true.

For the neighbor who drops by “for sugar”, but really just loves the big screen, there is a seat waiting.

For the friend who tells the score, you’ll have a listening audience.

Happy Father’s Day… Let the sports-weekend-good-times roll!

What’s your Father’s Day gift to all (or maybe just one!!) the fathers in your life?… Uh, and fathers, what is your hearts’ desire for your special day?

Honey (Baby, Dear, Sweetbuns… you get the picture), the NBA Finals are on and ________________________________________________!

Fill in the blank with your response or what your sports enthusiast’s response would be. Have fun!

I’m sure you know someone (Who knows, maybe it’s you!) who just isn’t quite being themselves. You can’t put your finger on it (or maybe you can), but you wonder what it would take to help this person realize his or her true potential.

This thought came to me as we (me, Hubby, and Mom… love you Mom!!) watched the Belmont Stakes horse race on Saturday… more specifically, after the astonishing loss of Triple Crown hopeful Big Brown. Everyone had an opinion about why the stallion, seemingly, just wasn’t himself. His racing style was unusual. The way he responded to the jockey was unusual. And, his last place finishing was absolutely unusual.

Photo by Jim Wood. (CC)

In all this, I felt a sort of burden for the horse as he was expected to live up to this huge name and grandeur that was placed all around him. He, of course, was none the wiser and just probably figured it was another day out on the dirt, but others were stunned because of this overall expectation.

Very simply put, it is important to be who you are no matter what. It can be a daunting task at times especially in work or school (even relationship) dynamics, but how much satisfaction would you get in realizing at the end of the day that you were being true to who you are?

There is so much unending pressure to be so many things, but the truth of the matter is that it takes so much work to be something or someone that you’re not. Try to be the very best that you can be and although there will be continued expectation around you (that’s just the nature of things), the hype isn’t worth losing out on being the very special you.

Have there been times when you felt that being you just wasn’t good enough?… If so, let me know when and what happened next.

The rivalry is palpable and there’s no denying the intense history between the two dynasties. The LA Lakers and the Boston Celtics are in the NBA Playoffs, starting tonight, and the feeling is in the air. Seriously, as you’re watching the game you see history peeping through the crowd. That’s where my words find their meaning-in the history.

The history I speak of is that of the likes of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, and please give an ovation for Bill Russell. The athletes are why Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garrett are able to be who they are today (Okay, let’s not ever be remised to leave Michael Jordan out of the dialogue of greatness.).

These historians of the grace and discipline of basketball are beyond compare. Words just aren’t there to describe the talent and confidence and champion that every one of these guys possess.

Today these historians sit and watch the young ones play and achieve and compete. Today I sit and watch the reasons (Magic, Kareem, Larry, Bill) why they are, indeed, able to play and achieve and compete.

Who do you offer respect and thanks to for paving the way for you?

Imagine you’re a professional athlete (Yes, you!) and you have everything you could ever imagine at your disposal… money, notoriety, cars (often phrased as endeared toys), and anything else your little heart desires. Now, with all of this fame and success you stumble across a rough patch in your life that you aren’t exactly expecting neither is it in your control (You know it happens all the time.).

In fact, it happens to the best of us. An uncontrollable situation is, indeed, the great equalizer between us all (the professional athlete and the everyday Joe… or wherever you fall in between).

Considering this (as yourself or as A.K.A. a professional athlete), how would you go about handling that uncontrollable situation? And, if you have experienced that seemingly out of control situation, how did you come through it?

It’s sharing time…

Every parent’s wish is for their child to come into this world with 10 fingers and 10 toes. It’s a desire that, above all else, health prevails. And, the mysterious observation about parenthood-despite anything that comes up-is the unending capacity to hope. They hope in the face of disappointment, adversity, and seemingly hopeless situations… These parents are no different.

Ernie Els, a former World No. 1 and member of the PGA tour, (with confidence and courage) recently revealed that his 5-year-old son, Ben, has autism. After dealing with the diagnoses for some time privately (understandingly so), Els and his wife, Lielz, disclosed that they were now comfortable with sharing (couldn’t imagine the level of difficulty). During the PGA tour earlier this year, Els donned an Autism Speaks logo on his golf bag (Go Ernie!). Obviously showing the logo on purpose, Els desires to use his celebrity to raise money and bring awareness to the disorder.

Admitting that it isn’t easy, Els settles into the fact that there has been a change of life and priorities for his family. But, the Els find that they are quite capable of dealing with this as part of their lives and would just like to help others who are less fortunate in the same situation.

The U.S. Open is fast approaching… look for Els (and maybe Little Ben) as he courageously fights this battle with and for his son.

Could you imagine revealing some of your most private struggles to the world?… How would you answer the world’s, then, unending desire to know more?

Can it be that you may not know your significant other’s favorite thing (Hmmm… think hard)? If so, what it is? Is it that cute, pink button up that just makes your mouth water (Pause. Think.)? Or is it that book about how to be a better you (Now, now… I agree that these can be handy items to have around)? I guess what I’m curious about are the small things.

I know sometimes, for me, well, it’s the small things that mean so much. I’m referring to times, for instance, when Hubby (I will give him a name one day.) makes me tea without my having to ask because he knows tea soothes me. Or when he takes the clothes out of the washer and puts them in the dryer because he knows I’m swamped with other stuff.

For Hubby’s birthday I tried to get floor tickets to a Lakers’ game. Well, that plan was meeting a dead end, so I decided to plan for a nice dinner with friends (He loves our friends.). At the last minute tickets came through and I presented him with his choices… dinner at a very nice restaurant with close friends or tickets to a game where we wouldn’t have the possibility of a GI-normous athlete falling on us. Well, after the game (LOL!) we decided what we wanted to do for the rest of his birthday weekend.

Point is we often times give based on our likes and wants (Don’t get me wrong. I’d be the first at a Lakers’ game… with pom poms!). But, I thought since we couldn’t get the floor seating that the night wouldn’t be eventful enough—and guess what?—it was an outstanding evening.

Hmmm, could you think of that favorite thing that your sports’ fan would be ecstatic over?… or at least thankful that it’s not having to wear that pink button up again (Hilarious!).

Do tell…

Very easy today… it’s important that with understanding your enthusiastic sports fan side of things that the same happens for you. With this in mind, one simple question today…

What would be that important thing that you’d love your sports lover to say or do that would help to make it more conducive for you to want to watch or participate in sports with them? And, why?

We all have something. What’s yours? I can’t wait to hear your important thing!

K, so from these entries on remotes I’ve learned some interesting things that I hope will be beneficial to you all as well. I’ve found that a lot of this has to do with perspective. Often times the remote may be viewed as just a simple electronic that turns the television on and off while it’s seen by others as much, much more.

For the sports lover, there is an experience that happens with each start of each game. The important thing here is that we share in that experience, too.

One earlier comment on my blog was from a guy who said he was excited about this site because through it he’ll be able to talk to his wife about more than just bills. Trust me when I tell you that your special person really does want to share with you about that ridiculous (ridiculous is very good here) play that happened in the Playoffs this weekend or the soccer move that was the best ever. That person just needs to feel that those plays are just as important as the person who jumped in front of you at the grocery store… perspective, right?

The multi-faceted remote was a jump start to get us into the mindset that sports is more than a past time for our significant other… there’s a love there, a passion, past dreams, hopes deferred, aspirations to come, seasons to remember. And what a friendship that can develop in just seeing someone else’s perspective.

So, how was the remote control question session? I actually hope it was insightful and relaxing. And, if you haven’t gotten around to it, just take some time to do it. It may not appear to be a big deal (Believe me, it is… try to change the channel with 11 seconds left in a game.), but understanding your sports fan means understanding the things that person love.

You know, part of my research is actually just asking my husband what he thinks about this, that, or the other. Well, remote clarification is no different… I wanted to know from his perspective why the remote was so important and what it would compare to for women. His answer came free flowing (LOL!)!

He said “everything”. That was it. I was like, I need more information, Babe (He was really satisfied with the answer he gave! That was amusing to me.). He continued with the clear and concise statement that when he holds the remote in his hands he’s in control and everything else, although I make him believe he’s in control of, I actually control (Why would you think that, Babe?… You’re getting sleepy, sleepy.). I really appreciated his candor of explanation (and he was really quick to answer, too!). He helped me learn something about his desire and at the same time, our relationship (I’m serious that while writing this I am wiping away tears from laughing so hard… We laughed hysterically while he held the remote up in such proclamation.).

See how just asking opened communication, and in our case, added to our chest of funny stories to share.