The hockey scream

I guess I always knew that different sports call for different spectator sounds. Polite clapping and conservative cheering are appropriate for tennis and golf. Basketball, football and baseball allow for more expressive outbursts of emotion. I thought hockey fit into that category, too, but my exposure to the Detroit Red Wings has proved to me that it doesn't.

When Matt watches hockey, the sounds that come out of his mouth are so bizzare. I was certainly caught off-guard the first time I heard them. They are these high-pitched yelps, sporadic "OH's!" that get you all keyed up and make you think maybe something really exciting actually has happened.

But then I look at the screen and nothing really that tremendous has occurred. The puck is still sliding around, the score is the same and not even a fight has broken out.

I'm still not sure why hockey elicits these strange noises from my husband. And I doubt they're unique to him. It just must be something about the sport that I don't understand.

All I know is that I won't be disappointed when the playoffs are over and I'm pretty thankful that Matt's basically just a playoff fan.

I just can't

There are many sports I don't particularly enjoy watching, but I will. Sports like football and even hockey, which can get gruesome.

But I draw the line at wrestling. I can't bear the sight of two men clawing at each other, muscles ripping, jaws beyond clenched, limbs twisting in outrageous directions. This is why the photo I chose for this post is a caricature, and not an actual photo, of wrestlers.

Unfortunately, the NCAA college basketball tournament happens to commence the same weekend as the NCAA wrestling tournament. Unfortunately, we have cable and can actually watch the wrestling instead of taking a more sane approach and checking in on the competition over the Internet. Unfortunately, Matt wrestled in high school and insists on watching the tournament during March Madness commercial breaks. Unfortunately, he had a liberal definition of commercial breaks ... five minutes?? Please.

Now don't get me wrong. I am very proud of Matt's wrestling career. I just don't need to relive it!

Matt just peeked over my shoulder at what I was typing and wants me to mention that two of the wrestlers in the competition are from Davison High School, which isn't far from where we live.

Hurray. I wish them all the best and will happily read about their successes in the newspaper.