I think I have mentioned before I watch more football now because other than racing, that’s the sport Hubby really loves. He unfortunately has had a terrible football year since his alma mater had to “rebuild” – something that occurs when you lose a large number of seniors. On top of that, the Atlanta Falcons played terribly the first two-thirds of the season. He always has the Saints as a back-up and they’re gone from the play-offs now. As it happens, we like three of the four still vying and will see which way that goes.

The above is an intro though because my first husband’s mother (the one who inspired me to write Your Room at the End) was a true sports enthusiast. She subscribed to and avidly read Sports Illustrated; not something you would think in looking at her or reading her background. She loved baseball, football, hockey, and most of all golf. Her son and my first husband, a New Englander through-and-through, started in Pewee Hockey and played all the way through college. He said it always startled him when his mother would yell at the referees because she just didn’t give that appearance as a first impression. Anyway, back to her enjoying golf. For her, it was a “gentleman’s game”, and one played with skill and style. (She did not golf herself, but then again, New England isn’t exactly a place where one has long seasons for such.)  In view of making it almost to her 89th birthday, she could well remember some of the “greats” I know only vaguely by name. Golf was also the professional sport she felt was less impacted by money although the purses have of course greatly increased.

I can’t recall if she followed tennis much, but she probably did. She also wasn’t into soccer, but that was also a function of time – it simply wasn’t a sport popular in the United States in her formative years.