as a late 30s Orioles fan who went to college both in Towson and Pennsylvania and was similarly transformed by Dog Problems, you clearly wrote this just for me. But you can’t trick me. I’m gonna keep loving sports. I don’t want to quote the whole paragraph on it, but there’s a beautiful old piece by Roger Angell called “Agincourt and After” that is in part a defense of sports fandom. It’s largely how I feel. But if there are things in life giving you purpose and connection, and sports aren’t a part of those things, this is the perfect place to be. thanks for a great read and I’ll see you at the championship parade around the Inner Harbor.
Also, did you host an Orioles podcast or run an Orioles Twitter fan account that started back in 2012? I definitely know your name from the Orioles world. I feel like you probably know my friend Cal Renner as well. Thanks for reading!
haha well there it is. Should have gone deeper down the rabbit hole!
That is hilarious. Yes! I was one of the hosts of Orioles Spastics. We were the extremely niche Orioles/Arrested Development podcast. It was so niche that we actually had some good traction, but life got in the way. I miss that. And Cal is wonderful!
Dude I listened to that podcast all the time back in the day! In fact, I know we interacted on Twitter a few times. It was so good haha. It’s funny I was actually thinking about it yesterday, I was thinking of how things we loved when we had time before kids/responsibilities are kind of impossible to maintain, like niche podcasts and blogs. That’s wild.
haha now that you are saying it, I do recognize your name too. This is too good. What a great connection and a little flash back in time. I’m glad you listened! And I dig your writing, excited to read more.
I actually managed to learn this lesson from an early age after watching my mom waste copious amounts of time watching sports on TV. I love playing sports, but I gotta be honest I cannot remember the last time I watched a game on TV. I went to a baseball game in person last summer, but even then, my wife and I just talked to our friends, drank beer, and ate hot dogs the whole time. Sports make for a good "third thing" for people to look at while they socialize, but they will never be anything more to me.
This sums up all the reasons that listening to baseball (the Red Sox in my case) on the radio while cooking supper, helping with homework, enjoying a beer, and making the next day's to-do list is a joy reserved for Dads. And all the better when the kids start calculating the OPS of their Little League lineup. That last game of the season hurts as it really represents the end of that nightly ritual.
Yes! I should've mentioned that I routinely do listen to Orioles games (on my grandpa's old faux-paneled radio) and aside from next-morning YouTube recaps, that's how I've taken in games for the past decade. It's great.
Wow - Course 1 resonated so much with feelings I have been experiencing even more strongly than normal since my wife and I got married and had kids (2 boys - ages 4 and 2). Wondering why I used up so much time in early-late 20’s on sports and mindless things when I could been exploring the world by foot or bike. How you ended the Course with the portion about freedom and the value of time is so true as well. Thanks for putting words to the experience!
When you mentioned THB, I nearly fell out of my chair, realizing the sports-driven, booze-filled, hobby-lacking culture you were describing was the very same one I once felt trapped in.
I lived in Baltimore for ten years, from college until age 28. When most of my friends began to settle down with dogs, husbands, and children in the suburbs, I decided I needed a fresh start and moved to San Francisco. Hands down, the #1 biggest change was that my social life no longer revolved around sitting at bars watching sports—partly thanks to the time zone, partly thanks to SF offering more outdoor activities, and partly because, in 2018, the Orioles went 47-115.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love watching sports, and I miss Baltimore TERRIBLY (what I’d give for a nostalgic hit of one of those overpriced bagels right now). But it feels like I’ve lived 10x more lives in half the time since prioritizing other things that bring me joy, fun, and socialization. These days, full days spent in Mother’s-esque dive bars are reserved only for special occasions — like that Orioles World Series watch party.
I love that you made that change, too many people don't. And yes, 2018 was the perfect year to move to San Francisco on account of the Orioles. You may have to move back, things are looking up! We'll get together a group of Orioles substackers for the inevitable Orioles World Series watch party. And by the way – Mother's is closing 😭 The end of an era.
Nailed it! brunch yesterday with my daughter (32) and me (59). Hip little spot that I was the oldest person at. Time moves on.
I recently quit all social media. If not for a podcast or subscription like this, I am not on anything. You wanna free up hours, get rid of it all. Seth Godin had been on to something for years.
Great piece once again Robbe. Enjoy your life with people you care about. You sound like a pretty content guy with your wife and boys. A pretty perfect life. Even when some moments it isn’t.
You are still a young man, Robbe! The human circle of life will keep spinning and in a few short years your young fellas will head off to school or whatever is next for them and you will recoup time. But, it will be different and you already know this. I loved having my kids be most of the fabric of our lives - early starts, long days, sports, etc. - it was a lot but it was so fulfilling. I love sports too but I probably watch less and less as the days go by. I follow them closely but do not commit the time like I use to and, man, I hardly ever watch SportsCenter - it use to be awesome. Other stuff like kids does feel these gaps and these things hopefully keep us Forever Young (Alphaville shoutout.)
At this point, I'm mostly staying healthy so I can hopefully enjoy some adventures with my kids when they're grown. That is, if they have any interest in hanging out with me at that point (and it's okay if they don't).
If you enjoyed it in the moment there should be no regrets. I spend several hours a week watching motorcycle racing but I'm lucky I have a wife that enjoys it with me. I can't imagine trying to date and putting on my profile, must be willing to watch supercross racing for 2 hours every weekend in the winter and GP, Superbike and motocross racing for 2 to 4 hours the other weekends of the year. Never mind planning vacations around the 10 weekends a year I'm actually on the track myself! I'd be single :(.
Sometimes I do wonder how my life would be different if I stuck to bicycles or took up running in my 20's instead of motorcycles. More money and a few less broken bones but eventually we all die an that money won't matter.
This of course would qickly become impractical if not selfish if I had children so I can imagine how that changes everything.
This is great, totally relate. Personally feel a huge shift happening now with my age (25-28). We really don’t care about sports anymore. I could see it trickling down to younger generations too. I think we’ve seen football peak in many ways
Thanks for the report back from my great beyond 😂 I thought football had peaked 5 years ago, but I guess I was a bit early. I do wonder if soccer will pick up where American football falls off, I guess we'll see!
I’m honestly looking forward to marriage / children if not only to erase some of the idle time spent wasted. I feel once some of these grander schemes get introduced you’re flung into a world of all time meaning & purpose that you just cannot access without that new responsibility / path. Would be interested to hear your experience. Also love the abbreviated BC and BM for before children / marriage respectively
as a late 30s Orioles fan who went to college both in Towson and Pennsylvania and was similarly transformed by Dog Problems, you clearly wrote this just for me. But you can’t trick me. I’m gonna keep loving sports. I don’t want to quote the whole paragraph on it, but there’s a beautiful old piece by Roger Angell called “Agincourt and After” that is in part a defense of sports fandom. It’s largely how I feel. But if there are things in life giving you purpose and connection, and sports aren’t a part of those things, this is the perfect place to be. thanks for a great read and I’ll see you at the championship parade around the Inner Harbor.
I got you: https://open.substack.com/pub/robbereddinger/p/also-why-i-dont-regret-wasting-whole
Also, did you host an Orioles podcast or run an Orioles Twitter fan account that started back in 2012? I definitely know your name from the Orioles world. I feel like you probably know my friend Cal Renner as well. Thanks for reading!
haha well there it is. Should have gone deeper down the rabbit hole!
That is hilarious. Yes! I was one of the hosts of Orioles Spastics. We were the extremely niche Orioles/Arrested Development podcast. It was so niche that we actually had some good traction, but life got in the way. I miss that. And Cal is wonderful!
Dude I listened to that podcast all the time back in the day! In fact, I know we interacted on Twitter a few times. It was so good haha. It’s funny I was actually thinking about it yesterday, I was thinking of how things we loved when we had time before kids/responsibilities are kind of impossible to maintain, like niche podcasts and blogs. That’s wild.
haha now that you are saying it, I do recognize your name too. This is too good. What a great connection and a little flash back in time. I’m glad you listened! And I dig your writing, excited to read more.
I actually managed to learn this lesson from an early age after watching my mom waste copious amounts of time watching sports on TV. I love playing sports, but I gotta be honest I cannot remember the last time I watched a game on TV. I went to a baseball game in person last summer, but even then, my wife and I just talked to our friends, drank beer, and ate hot dogs the whole time. Sports make for a good "third thing" for people to look at while they socialize, but they will never be anything more to me.
Perfect way to do sports
Me realizing that in 2010s my phone background was a San Francisco Giants logo. And now it's of my kids. I swore I would never be one of those dads...
This sums up all the reasons that listening to baseball (the Red Sox in my case) on the radio while cooking supper, helping with homework, enjoying a beer, and making the next day's to-do list is a joy reserved for Dads. And all the better when the kids start calculating the OPS of their Little League lineup. That last game of the season hurts as it really represents the end of that nightly ritual.
Yes! I should've mentioned that I routinely do listen to Orioles games (on my grandpa's old faux-paneled radio) and aside from next-morning YouTube recaps, that's how I've taken in games for the past decade. It's great.
Wow - Course 1 resonated so much with feelings I have been experiencing even more strongly than normal since my wife and I got married and had kids (2 boys - ages 4 and 2). Wondering why I used up so much time in early-late 20’s on sports and mindless things when I could been exploring the world by foot or bike. How you ended the Course with the portion about freedom and the value of time is so true as well. Thanks for putting words to the experience!
It's kind of painful to think about, but we're here now, so nothing to do but move onward!
When you mentioned THB, I nearly fell out of my chair, realizing the sports-driven, booze-filled, hobby-lacking culture you were describing was the very same one I once felt trapped in.
I lived in Baltimore for ten years, from college until age 28. When most of my friends began to settle down with dogs, husbands, and children in the suburbs, I decided I needed a fresh start and moved to San Francisco. Hands down, the #1 biggest change was that my social life no longer revolved around sitting at bars watching sports—partly thanks to the time zone, partly thanks to SF offering more outdoor activities, and partly because, in 2018, the Orioles went 47-115.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love watching sports, and I miss Baltimore TERRIBLY (what I’d give for a nostalgic hit of one of those overpriced bagels right now). But it feels like I’ve lived 10x more lives in half the time since prioritizing other things that bring me joy, fun, and socialization. These days, full days spent in Mother’s-esque dive bars are reserved only for special occasions — like that Orioles World Series watch party.
I love that you made that change, too many people don't. And yes, 2018 was the perfect year to move to San Francisco on account of the Orioles. You may have to move back, things are looking up! We'll get together a group of Orioles substackers for the inevitable Orioles World Series watch party. And by the way – Mother's is closing 😭 The end of an era.
Nailed it! brunch yesterday with my daughter (32) and me (59). Hip little spot that I was the oldest person at. Time moves on.
I recently quit all social media. If not for a podcast or subscription like this, I am not on anything. You wanna free up hours, get rid of it all. Seth Godin had been on to something for years.
Great piece once again Robbe. Enjoy your life with people you care about. You sound like a pretty content guy with your wife and boys. A pretty perfect life. Even when some moments it isn’t.
Stay well:)
Love that, dude. You have it figured out, or at least the important part of it.
At the moment. Shit changes all the time
Congrats on the new wheels!
Thanks man!
You are still a young man, Robbe! The human circle of life will keep spinning and in a few short years your young fellas will head off to school or whatever is next for them and you will recoup time. But, it will be different and you already know this. I loved having my kids be most of the fabric of our lives - early starts, long days, sports, etc. - it was a lot but it was so fulfilling. I love sports too but I probably watch less and less as the days go by. I follow them closely but do not commit the time like I use to and, man, I hardly ever watch SportsCenter - it use to be awesome. Other stuff like kids does feel these gaps and these things hopefully keep us Forever Young (Alphaville shoutout.)
At this point, I'm mostly staying healthy so I can hopefully enjoy some adventures with my kids when they're grown. That is, if they have any interest in hanging out with me at that point (and it's okay if they don't).
Totally relate to that approach - for years, one of the drivers that kept me running was so that I could keep up with my kids and keep them active.
If you enjoyed it in the moment there should be no regrets. I spend several hours a week watching motorcycle racing but I'm lucky I have a wife that enjoys it with me. I can't imagine trying to date and putting on my profile, must be willing to watch supercross racing for 2 hours every weekend in the winter and GP, Superbike and motocross racing for 2 to 4 hours the other weekends of the year. Never mind planning vacations around the 10 weekends a year I'm actually on the track myself! I'd be single :(.
Sometimes I do wonder how my life would be different if I stuck to bicycles or took up running in my 20's instead of motorcycles. More money and a few less broken bones but eventually we all die an that money won't matter.
This of course would qickly become impractical if not selfish if I had children so I can imagine how that changes everything.
This is great, totally relate. Personally feel a huge shift happening now with my age (25-28). We really don’t care about sports anymore. I could see it trickling down to younger generations too. I think we’ve seen football peak in many ways
Thanks for the report back from my great beyond 😂 I thought football had peaked 5 years ago, but I guess I was a bit early. I do wonder if soccer will pick up where American football falls off, I guess we'll see!
I’m honestly looking forward to marriage / children if not only to erase some of the idle time spent wasted. I feel once some of these grander schemes get introduced you’re flung into a world of all time meaning & purpose that you just cannot access without that new responsibility / path. Would be interested to hear your experience. Also love the abbreviated BC and BM for before children / marriage respectively
If you haven't read this one, it remains my favorite, and I think it goes along well with everything you're saying: https://robbereddinger.substack.com/p/fatherhood-is-undefeated?r=1vvbhd