ratherbbiking Posted February 11, 2007 Posted February 11, 2007 I’m not one of those people who believes in changing their personality for the person they’re dating but I’m OK with some knowledge of what the person I’m seeing is into. My new girlfriend is seriously into basketball. She’s followed her team, the Suns, since she was a child and also watches all the college stuff. She played in high school and her whole family is into the sport. I never watched much sports when I was growing up and only recently started to watch hockey with my dad, so my expertise is pretty rough right now. But it sucks to watch the games with my girlfriend and her friends or her family when I’m the only one who doesn’t know, say, the names of everyone on the roster. So how much should I learn about basketball? This kind of bothers me only because I would never coerce my girlfriend into learning everything about a subject I like a lot, like music, and she’s not exactly forcing me but then it’s like what do we talk about when these interests come up. I guess I’m asking how much people here are willing to learn have more in common with their GF’s/BF’s.
Mister Foreskin Posted February 11, 2007 Posted February 11, 2007 Develop a passion for it and it'll come naturally. Before this year's NFL season, I didn't know anything about even my own team, the Chicago Bears. Now I know more about many football teams than their own fans do because I enjoy the sport and enjoy finding out more about it. I'd say try getting whatever basketball game there is out there and playing it, you know like football has Madden 07 right now. When I was a wandering newbie wanting to learn football I bought Madden 06 and I learned so much about the game because it was a lot funner learning this way than trying to read up on all the rules..learn by experience. I have to ask, how did you guys become in a relationship? I mean, there's obviously a reason you two are together. Maybe she likes your sense of humor? Whatever, it's not like because you don't know basketball she's going to dump you, so don't act like it's the end of the world if you never develop a liking for it. -Mister Foreskin on the way! Slowly peeling back the questions one by one
norajane Posted February 11, 2007 Posted February 11, 2007 It's not that hard to pick up on the basics - just read the sports page in your paper, and watch some sports news on TV. You'll pick up on most of the names of your local team, figure out who the stars are, and get to know the coach's style. I assume you already understand the basics of basketball. I'm a fair weather fan for most ball teams; it's fun to watch when they're winning, and if you listen, you can pick up most things you need to know. I can't say I've ever bothered to get all excited about sports, but I work in a male dominated industry, so it's inevitable the I have to listen to them yak about some team or other before meetings or when conference calls start. I have to say, though, that college basketball is my least favorite thing to hear about. March Madness and hoo-raa-whatever-the-hell-college team bores me to tears, so I don't even bother to try to care about that.
Star Gazer Posted February 11, 2007 Posted February 11, 2007 Damn the Suns. They keep beating my team!!!! Getting involved in a BF/GF's interests isn't about "changing your personality." Hopefully we all have different interests, otherwise we'd all be clones of one another. I think that learning about our SO's interests and becoming interested in them ourselves is totally natural. Whether it be country music, indie movies, foreign literature, or travel to the South Pacific, I've become interested in something new with every guy I've dated. But even if you don't become interested in your GF's love of NBA basketball, showing an understanding and appreciation for her interests will mean a great deal to her. As for the specific task at hand - I fall behind on what's going on with my team quite often. I'd suggest going to the homepage of the Suns and reading up on the players and coaches, and watch a couple games. With time you'll at least understand what the heck is going on. HTH!
ProudPinoyGal01 Posted February 11, 2007 Posted February 11, 2007 Basketball is pretty fun to watch and the rules are easy to follow. I think it’d be more difficult if your girlfriend were into something more complex, like string theory or something like that. There’s a lot of resources for the sport, the NBA site has links to all the team sites and those probably link to blogs and the like. You can even read alerts with 4info if you’re on your way to meet her or something like that and you’ll look like you’re in-the-know. I generally have no problem trying things my dates like and I don’t know very much about. Like the poster above said, it’s not about changing your personality, it’s about being open to new things. It’s only troublesome when one person isn’t willing to be receptive to anything new and the other person doesn’t want to be patient.
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