The 1986 World Series made me a sports fan. The Mets and Red Sox played seven dramatic baseball games, and the seven year old version of me loved every minute of it. My dad was from New Jersey, and my mom was from Boston, and these two teams shaped many of my first sports memories. The Mets and Red Sox are still my two favorite baseball teams. For the games I couldn’t stay up for (I was only seven), my dad left a note at my bedside with the final score written on it. I excitedly found out the final score as soon as I woke up the next morning. My parents even took us to the Mets’ ticker tape parade where I proudly sat on my dad’s shoulders and watched the World Series Champions from a distance. I’ll never forget it.

10917448_10152700828596229_8466305355267993562_nEvery Thanksgiving and Christmas throughout my childhood, my family would travel from New Jersey, where I grew up, to Boston, where my grandparents and cousins were. All of my older cousins where huge Patriots fans, and I remember rooting them on through the late 80s and early 90s when the team wasn’t very good at all. But there was something about watching those games with my cousins that made me the Patriots fan I am today.

Fast forward to the early 2000s. I was in my early twenties and I had just moved to Los Angeles. The Patriots won 3 out of 4 Super Bowls and were on top of the world. I had many beers at many bars with transplanted Patriots fans. It was an incredible run.
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Fast forward again to 2014. I have beautiful wife and two kids. We bought a house where the garage has become a Patriots Man Cave. The Pats were back in the Super Bowl after a tumultuous season and they’re played the Seattle Seahawks. My parents, brother-in-law, and his kids came over for the game. We were all decked out in Patriots gear, and ultra excited. In many ways, this felt like possibly the last time Tom Brady would make it to a Super Bowl.

Once the game started, my kids had absolutely no interest at all. They preferred to be playing outside or watching Nick Jr. in the play room. After a bunch of beers and tasty chili, the game entered the 4th Quarter with my Patriots down by 10 points. That’s when my kids came into the garage and started watching with us.

We started rubbing my son’s belly for good luck and he loved it. As the Patriots scored consecutive touchdowns and we started screaming, my daughter asked us to quiet down and use our inside voices.

10487187_10152701425206229_745470398262386308_nAfter one very unlikely catch, the game seemed absolutely lost for the Patriots with 40 seconds remaining. My kids must have been confused seeing how upset I was. Then the Patriots made the most improbable and unbelievable interception to win the game. We went into complete euphoria, and I was screaming louder than my kids had ever heard me before. Again, my daughter asked us to quiet down. The ending of the game was perfect for a New England fan like me.

I hope that my kids remember Sunday night. Your team doesn’t win a championship that often, and a night like that can shape a child’s future as a sports fan, just like it did for me almost thirty years earlier. This is why I’m a sports fan.

*It may not seem possible for Sunday to get any better for me, but it did. My son (and my legs) were in Dove Men+Care’s Super Bowl commercial. He’s the kid on the toilet. Check it out!