Do You Understand the Importance of "The Bond"?

With the 2013 baseball season underway, this seemed like the perfect topic for my next post.  Now before all the Yankee haters out there click away...or start posting negative comments...or even remark on the Yankees "wonderful" start to this season...let me start by saying that this post is NOT about being a Yankees fan.  And it's NOT about being a Red Sox or Mets hater.  It's also not about battling with my wife (although it might seem like it shortly).  Here's what it IS about...The Bond.  It's a fanatical sports bond between a parent and a child.  A connection built on an extreme, devoted, almost obsessive love for the SAME favorite sports team.

If you had it with your parent, you know what I'm talking about.  If you have it with your child, you understand what it feels like.  You know that special, indescribable feeling of seeing your child wearing the team colors, cheering for your favorite players, and yes, even booing the hated rival.  I hesitate to say it, but I don't think there is anything else on this planet that can bring a parent and child closer together than The Bond.

That's me!

As a kid, I shared that The Bond with my dad, just as he did with his dad.  We were Yankees fans through and through.  My dad and I didn't have the tightest relationship when I was young, but sitting next to him at a Yankee game was more magical than a thousand Disney Worlds.  Wearing the same pinstripes, donning the NY navy blue cap, and cheering at the top of our lungs as the Bombers took the field, I knew my place in my dad's heart, and he in mine.  There was no greater feeling, period.

It is because of those feelings and the unforgettable attachment they created, that from the moment my first daughter was born, I anxiously awaited the day where I could sit next to her, watch a Yankees game and high five her when yet another Yankee legend hit a blast deep into the Bronx night.  When I could form another fanatical sports bond that runs generations deep.  A bond that is tied together by Joe DiMaggio,  Mickey Mantle, Don Mattingly, Derek Jeter and future Yankee legends.

Exhibit A

So I ask "Do you understand the importance of The Bond?"  Unfortunately, if you never had The Bond with your parent, and you don't have The Bond with your child, sadly you will answer "No".  To you, it's just a team.  It's just a jersey.  It's just some players.  And it's just a rival.  There's no emotion behind it, and there's certainly no bond to be had.  And that's fine for you.  You can cheer for your team.  And you can boo the enemy.  And heck, you might even cross over to the dark side once in a while for a World Series ticket (see exhibit A).  But, and here is the moral of this entire post, don't deprive the ones you love of The Bond.  Recognize, even if you can't understand it, that it exists, it is real, and that it matters to some.  So keep cheering for your team, but step aside and let generations of this fanatical sports bond live on!

I want to hear from you.  If you've felt The Bond, share a story of one of your memories in the comments box below.