Category: Podcast

Everyone has a sports story. As part of my mission to create peace in the world between sports fans and non-sports fans, I am doing a set of interviews of people on both sides of the line. Whether you’re a die-hard fan with their favorite player’s face tattooed onto their body or someone who is not a fan but whose life intersects with sports in some way, you have a valuable story to tell. Sign up today to tell your story on our easy to use booking page or email me at dearsportsfan@gmail.com.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Craig Caruso. A VoIP employee during the day and a mobile app designer by night, Craig finds time between to follow his home town teams — or at least three of them. Staten Island born and bread, Caruso has his choice of the New York teams and some choice words about the rest. In his photo, Craig is wearing a the bacon logo of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs on his hat and a shirt that supports New York Yankees third baseman, Alex Rodriguez. You can read a synopsis of our interview below or listen to it in full here.

 

Name: Craig Caruso

Teams:

• New York Yankees
• New York Jets
• New York Rangers

Born and lives in: Staten Island, NY

Do you have any sports superstitions?

No, not really. I try to wear my jersey when I can, just to be in the spirit with the team.

What is your earliest sports memory?

It’s funny, I’m a Yankees fan but my first game that I ever went to as a kid was a Mets game. It was at Shea. My Dad’s union took everyone at the shop out for a day out at Shea — there was probably a hundred of us — and my dad was like, “Okay, let’s go to your first baseball game.”

Were you a Mets fan at the time?

I really didn’t have a team alliance, I would say, I just went because… at the time I didn’t know better. And then I got into sports and I started growing into certain teams, and liking certain players. I have a superstition — my favorite number is 23 — and then I started watching baseball and I started liking the Yankees and I started liking Don Mattingly and all of a sudden… I started watching baseball a lot.

What did you like about Mattingly?

Just how he led the team. He wasn’t really the captain but… how he led the team, how he played first base, how he commanded himself on the field, the things he did for the Yankees. It’s kind of funny, he never made a World Series championship but they made it the year after he left and the year before he came to the Yankees — they were World Series championship teams.

What do you think sports adds to your life?

Excitement. When you have something in common with a lot of people, you can go to work, you can talk sports with someone, even if you’re not a Jets or a Rangers or a Yankees fan, there’s always that commonality with people about what teams they like. I work in NJ and there’s a lot of Philly fans — it’s that commonality you have: Did you see the game last night? Did you see the hit? Did you see the pass? Who are the Phillies playing tonight? It’s the commonality that really brings people together.

If it wasn’t sports, what would our common language be?

Probably technology. I think we would be talking more about coding, design, UI, and UX. You know, all the other crazy things we do at work. And I think that would probably connect us more than sports — love of technology.

Do you think you miss out on anything in life because of sports?

No. Am I sitting in front of a game every night? No. I think with the day and age that we live in, we’re always somewhat connected to our phones or Apple watches. Life is more important than one game. Baseball is 162 games, I don’t have to watch every single one. I think some people over-obsess about sports. You know, “I gotta watch the Yanks, I gotta watch the game.” No, you have to prioritize your life on what really comes first. If it’s Game Seven, Stanley Cup, and the Rangers are in it, that takes a little priority but you don’t have to watch every Yankees game.

On going to Jets games with his father:

He’s a football fan, not necessarily a Jets fan or a Giants fan. He’s a football fan. If he could get the NFL package wherever he was, he would watch every game, every Sunday. But he goes with me because he knows I enjoy it, we enjoy it together, and seeing football live is more fun than watching it on TV.

What is the best part of seeing football live?

The atmosphere, the environment. People laugh — Jets fan, Jets fan — but there’s nothing more exhilarating than seeing that Jets chant live with Fireman Ed, and getting the crowd really rowdy, and not rowdy, but in your face. And the opposing players know you’re in Met Life stadium. You know you’re in the home of the Jets. I’m a Yankees fan and I go to maybe 10-15 games a year. It’s not like that. It’s two different sports but — I’m a Bleacher Creature, I do roll call, I sit with the Yankee fans in the outfield — but there’s nothing more exhilerrating than being at a Jets game and hearing chants going for four quarters.

On basketball:

I dropped basketball completely many years ago, I don’t even watch it anymore.

Why did you stop watching basketball?

Jordan left.

What was it about Jordan?

Everything. The shots he’s taken — just seeing a player like that, working with the Bulls, passing to Pippen. He used his weapons and he could always count on his weapons. If it’s a pass to Pippen, he knows Pippen is going to get it in. If it’s Rodman defending… Luc Longly. All those players. And they know if they have the ball, they know they can pass it back to Jordan to make the shot. Just seeing him running up and down the court, back and forth. And hustling, not giving up. There’s no player that hustles like Jordan or hustled like Jordan.

What would you like non-sports fans to understand about sports or sports fans?

We have a passion for a lot of things. Come to a game with us. We have a passion for our teams and there are times you have to — if you’re a non-sports fan — you just have to get into it a little bit to cheer your team on, even if it’s the Rangers or the Jets or the Yankees or even the Mets who are doing excellent this year. Just embrace it, and try it, if you don’t like it, great, sure, no harm no foul, but give it a chance. Embrace your team, embrace your city. You don’t have to fall in love with the Yankees. Embrace the city and, especially in NY — NY goes crazy when our teams start winning. Embrace it — be happy for everyone else.

What is your favorite stadium food?

I actually have to admit — I do go to some Mets games and I think the Mets have the best collection of foods — and [the best is] probably Shake Shack. It’s funny — I’m a die hard Yankees fan and I always will be, but I’m rooting for the Mets this year. Listen, Yankees stadium will always be Yankees stadium but I think Yankee stadium was built as more of a memorial and a museum to the older players. You go to Citi field and it’s like an amusement park. If you want Chinese, sushi, pizza, you have your options. I feel like Yankee Stadium does not have enough food options or variety. Even across from Shake Shack, there’s a Mexican place that’s amazing.

If you could be any type of professional athlete, what would it be?

I think my favorite would probably be a defensive end or a center, like a Nick Mangold center. You have the upper body strength, yeah you have the weight to you, but you have the upper body strength and the lower body strength to run through a brick wall.

Everyone has a sports story. As part of my mission to create peace in the world between sports fans and non-sports fans, I am doing a set of interviews of people on both sides of the line. Whether you’re a die-hard fan with their favorite player’s face tattooed onto their body or someone who is not a fan but whose life intersects with sports in some way, you have a valuable story to tell. Sign up today to tell your story on our easy to use booking page or email me at dearsportsfan@gmail.com.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Jake Northrup. Jake spent some of his childhood in Connecticut on the border between Yankees and Red Sox country, a split that divided even his own family. These days he’s in college where he divides his time between “important stuff” like schoolwork and employment and following sports passionately. You can read a synopsis of our interview below or listen to it in full here.

 

Current Location: Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia, home of the Stormy Petrels — get stormy!
Home town: Clifton, Virginia, Connecticut, and Atlanta

Teams:

• New York Yankees
• Los Angeles Lakers
• University of Connecticut
• University of Tennessee
• Atlanta Braves
• Atlanta Hawks
• Atlanta Falcons

What is it like to root for scattered teams?

Especially because one of the teams I grew up watching is the Lakers, and they play on the west coast, I can’t watch them as often.

What’s your first sports memory?

When I just moved to Atlanta (at age six) there was this sweepstakes for Ritz and it was win and Derek Jeter or Ken Griffey Jr. could play in your back yard. And I didn’t win but I got a Derek Jeter baseball card.

What was it like growing up in Connecticut?

Women have ten titles, the men have four. the women seem to get more hate because of Geno [Aueriema, the  controversial UConn women’s basketball coach.] Women’s basketball there is huge. especially when the teams do well, that’s when the whole state feels like big things are happening.

I lived in the middle between Boston and New York. I did not choose [a baseball team to root for,] my dad was a Yankees fan and that pretty much is in my blood, so I was with the Yankees. My brother is a Red Sox fan. So, we got a little sibling rivalry there. He’s younger, and I like the Yankees, so he likes to pick on me.I definitely felt [the rivalry] it lives in my own home with my brother.

How do sports fit into your weekly routine?

I used to be a high school athlete, I played basketball and tennis but now that I’m in college I don’t participate that often and i do miss [it] because I used to always play pickup basketball with friends but  — school and now I have a job so i got to focus on those but when I have the time I will be watching sports.

What’s your favorite sport to watch on TV?

Oh basketball because I grew up laying it and I think it’s more action packed. More than the NFL because while the NFL waste[s] time by walking around, NBA and basketball in general — every second is running up and down the court. No wasting time.

What are your sports superstitions?

Yes! They change all the time. I know when I was younger I used to make my brother sit on an ottoman because it would help the Lakers win. Then I would wear my team clothing for a period. Then there was a point where my teams would win when I was doing my homework. This year, I don’t know what it is. It could be anything.

How do sports play into your friendships at college?

It’s huge, especially when I lived with my dorm-mates. We would talk about sports… it’s a huge integral part of college.

How would your life be different without sports?

Before I became really into sports, I was this huge history buff. I also am a shark enthusiast. I love learning about sharks. So I think I would spend a lot more time [doing] research on sharks and history.

What’s different about rooting for the Yankees? What makes Yankees fans unique?

Besides all the world series championships, you got all these legendary players. You got some sense of pride in being a team. Of course you have all the haters but you gotta just kind of shake it off.

Is your favorite player Derek Jeter?

Of course it is!

Who is your sports nemesis?

It’s David Ortiz. I remember when, in ’04 when the Yankees blew that 3-0 lead, my friends gave me such a hard time with the Red Sox and David Ortiz seems to be the guy who helped them out in fueling the comeback. So I just couldn’t stand that guy at all.

How do you feel about players who come from the Red Sox to play with the Yankees?

Oh my gosh that makes it so weird! When Johnny Damon came over, I completely switch my attitude towards him. I started liking him. now that Jacoby Ellsbury is there, I like him. And I find it a little hypocritical and ironic because i didn’t like these guys but now that they’re here in pinstripes, I like them.

What would you like non-sports fans to understand about sports or fans?

I think sports is more than just watching or playing a game. It teaches you life values like teamwork, competition, rivalry, sportsmanship, all those things.

How do sports play into your dating life?

I haven’t seen much of that but I will admit there was this girl I really liked, and considered asking out, but when I found out she was a Red Sox fan, I was like, “Oh, then that’s not going to happen.”

What do you think the ratio of male to female sports fans is in your generation?

I would say social media makes it look 50/50, but outside in the real world, I see 70/30.

What can we as male sports fans do to make the world more welcoming for female sports fans?

I think… maybe because with the NFL with all their domestic violence issues, [we could] try to make it more appealing to the women — To make it look more like we really care about equality. I actually watch women’s college basketball and I think if we watched more female sports, maybe that will get the female fans to watch sports as well.

What’s the difference between men’s basketball and women’s?

When I grew up, there was basically no difference. I liked basketball in general, didn’t matter men or women. But I think with the women it’s more shoot first. Men was basically slow down, try to work down the shot clock from the 35 to the very last second. Women — dribble down the court, if you’ve got an open shot, take it, then let’s get back on defense.

Everyone has a sports story. As part of my mission to create peace in the world between sports fans and non-sports fans, I am doing a set of interviews of people on both sides of the line. Whether you’re a die-hard fan with their favorite player’s face tattooed onto their body or someone who is not a fan but whose life intersects with sports in some way, you have a valuable story to tell. Sign up today to tell your story on our easy to use booking page.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Mary Reagan. Mary has been a Boston sports fan her whole life and after years as a transplant, she’s returned home with lots of great stories. You can read a synopsis of our interview below or listen to it in full here.

 

Name: Mary Reagan

Current Location: Outside of Boston
Home town: Outside of Boston

Teams:

• Boston Red Sox
• Boston Bruins
• New England Revolution

What’s your earliest sports memory?

Going to Fenway park with my father. Back then you used to have to go into the ticket office to buy your tickets. So we would have our yearly ritual of going into Fenway and deciding which games we wanted. I have very distinct memory of the first time I was allowed to pick a game. I picked the Milwaukee Brewers because my favorite player at the time had been Billy Conigliaro and they traded Billy to the Milwaukee Brewers and back then the brew were in the same league, so I got to see that game. And I actually met Billy Conigliaro a couple years ago and I told him that story. And he said, “Do you remember what I did that day? I wasn’t happy with the Red Sox and I knocked one out of the park.”

Why was he your favorite?

“Everybody else loved Tony Conigliaro and I had to be different, so I liked his brother. Of course everybody loved Yaz and the biggies but you had to have another player that was one of your favorites. So I decided Billy wasn’t getting enough love, and so this little kid was going to be his number one fan.”

On how she started rooting for the New England Tea Men, an NASL soccer team in the late 1970s:

When I was in high school, I actually started rooting for them because I was babysitting for the players kids and they would give me tickets for the Saturday afternoon games when the kids were going to come so they didn’t need a babysitter. So I picked up on Soccer that way.

On how she started rooting for the Boston Bruins

Bruins, I’m a big hockey fan. My cousins used to play hockey so my mother would keep her sister company during the practices and bring me along when I was a little kid. So, I  was exposed to hockey very young. And I grew up in the age of Bobby Orr.

Was watching sports a part of your friendships as a young person?

Probably not, it was more of a family thing. Brother and sister. And my mother was into sports as well. She liked basketball though, and I never quite got into basketball. And my father’s a huge football fan and that didn’t stick with me.

What about now?

My sister and I in particular go to a lot of games together. She’s a big Revolution fan so she mostly comes with me to those games but occasional Red Sox. And my brother comes once or twice a year to the Red Sox, he’s not as into soccer. And my father hasn’t been but he’s thinking about coming to a Red Sox game with me… if I can get good seats for him.

Biggest difference in the at-stadium experience between now and when you were a kid?

Yeah, there is a lot more of that, but I like it. I don’t like — when I would go to other fields, not Fenway — I don’t like what I would call the minor league stuff at the high end games. I don’t like the between innings — I don’t know if you’d call them games or activities. That’s a minor league thing in my mind and I don’t like the “make some noise” and “everyone clap your hands” at Red Sox games. I know they do it at hockey games but… Okay, I’ll let them slide, but at baseball I’m a purist, and when you cheer, you cheer because it’s organic and not because someone tells you to.

What was it like to be a Boston Sports fan living in New York City?

It’s interesting. Especially, since 2004. It’s more of a thing with baseball than another sport I follow… The Yankees – Red Sox thing was a bit hard. It was also tough because back then, there were Red Sox bars — in part I didn’t know about a few of them and then some of the ones that have come along since came along after 2004. So I hadn’t gotten as clued into that scene. I would just watch whereever I could find it and then found out later — oh there were hundreds of people gathered at each of these bars cheering for the Red Sox.

My two go-to bars in the last few years have been Riviera and Professor Thom’s. Primarily Professor Thom’s but I started out with Riviera for hockey. It’s a Boston bar that’s not in-your-face Boston… So it’s low-key in that sense but it’s hard core when it comes to watching the games. And then Professor Thom’s is like a mecca for Boston fans in New York though. You walk in and you know you’re in a Boston bar.

Do you have any sport superstitions?

We are convinced that if we order and consume, of course, the loaded tots at Professor Thom’s that the Red Sox and Bruins will win. So our ritual — we don’t take a chance. It doesn’t always work but every time we go to watch the game, we buy the loaded tots. And we have tried tots at other places and there’s just no comparison. The loaded tots at Professor Thom’s are fantastic! I keep telling them they should make a smaller portion so that if i’m there by myself i can order it.

What do you think being an Boston sports fan says about you? What makes it different from rooting for any other teams?

What stands out most is being a Red Sox fan growing up and the decades of hoping and not getting that championship. It took dedication to keep following the Red Sox through all those years.

What’s the most important thing you’d like non-sports fans to understand about sports?

I think it’s that, especially if you’re at an event, non-sports fans can enjoy going to sporting events even if they don’t like sports. I can definitely understand people who aren’t going to sit with me and watch it on TV — might even not go to a bar and watch it there — but having people give it a chance to go to an event and experience it first hand. It may not turn them into sports fans but it may help them understand or at least appreciate — especially nowadays when there’s so much to do at events and so much that can capture your attention. I think that’s kind of cool.