My husband is obsessed with sports, but none so much as hockey. He knows the history, drafts, trades, player stats, and the scores of games 3 weeks ago. When hockey season starts, our household TV channels are on lockdown with TSN and Sports Net. In the past I have attempted to resist the need to watch every game, but recently I have discovered a new tactic that seems to keep the peace when it comes to the TV remote. It follows the old adage, “if you can’t beat em, join em”. I joined a hockey pool.
You would assume being only a slight hockey fan this would be counter intuitive, BUT a bit of healthy competition between friends and family goes a long way. I have been in the same hockey pool for 3 years now and my only goal is to end up ranking higher than my husband and father in-law… Which seams to be more of a challenge with my father in-law . The competitive side of my ego has me looking at stats and checking scores every night. At times I am more up to date with the league than my husband. It has made me more accepting of hockey and a participant in the evening TV time. I am still more than happy to change the channel whenever possible, but I have become tolerant of the hockey season to a point where I enjoy sitting down and watching a game or two in hopes that my players will perform.
The hockey pool has been a fun way to get in the game and get me involved in conversations where I would otherwise be staring at the wall.