MIAMI – For three hours, I was able to be a sports fan and enjoy every moment of it, almost forgetting how it was before I started being a sportswriter where there’s no cheering in the press box.
The profession has almost desensitized me from all that through the years, although I didn’t cheer for any team.
I couldn’t remember the last time I went to a game and was a fan – just watching and observing. My buddy Francisco Romero, the Spanish voice of the Arizona basketball program, and I went to the World Baseball Classic at Dolphin Stadium on Thursday night. The games involving Team USA happened to be 30 minutes away. And a $10 ticket gets you almost any seat in the house. So, we took in the game from every angle. Fun stuff – if you’re a fan.
After an hour rain delay, we left the game into the fifth inning with Venezuela beating USA 6-1 in front of a 75 percent Venezuelan crowd.
On Thursday, the focus returns to the Arizona men’s basketball team and the sidelines and back to the regular life. And I’m OK with that, although the three-hour baseball escape was more than welcomed.