Sports.

I just realized that this past week most of the television shows and movies I have watched have been about sports; Friday Night Lights (tv) and Moneyball (movie). My dad has worked in sports as long as I can remember and watching FNL and Moneyball reminded me of a lot of moments from when I was growing up.

As a kid and teenager my family would spend our weekends going to college basketball tournaments, NASCAR races, golf tournaments, and traveling to see professional baseball games. I remember talking about Georgia Tech's Triple Threat over the family dinner table, discussing whether or not Heath Shuler would enter the draft early with my dad in the car on the way to school in middle school, watching Wimbledon at the beach every summer, and going over baseball stats in the sports page on Saturday mornings with my brother before he was even in kindergarten.

Those times made up some of my favorite childhood memories. It was something my family could do together, it was something we could do with other families, and it was something we could all talk about together.

I am really thankful my Dad worked in sports growing up. (And, he still does, go BMS!) Not only did it allow me to win a sports trivia contest in college, but also brought my family together in a really neat way. I hope one day if I have my own family we can eat a game day dog from Neyland Stadium, experience a NASCAR race in person, and see our favorite Major League Baseball player (who will definitely be a Cardinal) hit a home run. And, at the dinner table I hope we talk about things like who we think will win the Masters, how great the SEC is, and what an awesome quarterback Peyton Manning was in his prime. I also hope that sports are something that brings my family together the same way it did for me growing up.

My Dad and me at a Tennessee football game a few years ago.