by Marlene Gundlach

Created on: January 20, 2009   Last Updated: January 28, 2009

I was raised a sports fan. I spent Saturdays watching the Buckeyes and Sundays watching the Browns with my dad. My summer job was working as a scorekeeper for our local little league. I was also active in sports in school, both as a participant and behind the scenes. My husband knew what he was getting into when he married me; my love of sports was undeniable. Now, he played basketball and ran track in high school. He just doesn't feel the need to sit and watch sports whenever it is on television.

Living in Central Ohio, I am a rabid Ohio State fan. Mostly football, but I also follow the basketball Buckeyes. A Buckeye related website is my homepage and the majority of my wardrobe is scarlet and gray. I also pledge my loyalty to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, and Columbus Blue Jackets. Painfully, I am also a fan of the Cleveland Browns. Anyone who follows the NFL knows that being a Browns fan is often a fate worse than death.

On any given Saturday in the fall, I must be near a television. The only thing that will keep me away from watching a Buckeye football game is my sons and their athletic endeavors. So, depending on the week, my husband knows when the game is on and when I will be unavailable. We order in for dinner, and my husband takes over laundry duty. If the boys have a baseball game, I will be there with my headphones on, remaining loyal to all of my favorite athletes. Most parents know to come to me for a score update. It can be a challenge since I normally am the scorekeeper for the boys' games, and listening to a football game while scoring a baseball game is quite a feat. But, my brain is wired for it. We had to travel from Columbus (OH) to Sandusky one fall Saturday, and it was during a football game. I had to look up all of the radio stations that were carrying the game between here and there so as not to miss a snap.

Sports fanaticism can rear its ugly head at any time. My football Buckeyes won the National Championship in January of 2003. It was a nail-biter of a game, going into two overtimes. My best friend, a fellow sports nut, was here to watch the game with us. As the game progressed and the tension grew, my husband had to step back and let the insanity ensue. As my friend and I jumped around and celebrated the victory, he wondered if he was going to have to repair the couch in the morning. During the Buckeye's most recent Bowl game versus Texas, I almost broke my husband's finger as I celebrated a touchdown catch by our quarterback.

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