DE: Did it have to be Monday already?

[bjornwilde]

So not ready for an early day and definitely not ready for work. That one extra beer last night isn't helping matters either.

Anyway, less griping more entertaining. From jjprobert comes this gem (a little late but I think Wimbledon just wrapped up yes?):
It's Wimbledon fortnight. Which means, here in the UK, BBC TV is dominated by coverage of the tennis.

So, Sports: How do your pups feel about professional sports? Do they play sport at any competitive level? Do they just enjoy going for bike rides in the sun (or similar)?

Comments

[a1enzo]

Enzo follows pro jetball avidly. When he's visiting Dani, he enjoys watching football with her family; specifically, he enjoys rooting against the Packers (for which Dani's creator/archenemy is a fanatic).

[hey35andholding]

Clem: is a basketball, hockey and football nut but does not play.

Dixie: Enjoys watching sweaty men performing strenuously, but otherwise abstains from athletics.

Jules: Does EVERYTHING: jogs, hikes, aerobics, skiing, etc. VV outdoorsy. Naturally, is in love with a couch potato.

Pinkie: Aerobics in general, but is constantly active and busy Making People Smile.

[sdelmonte]

Let's start with the two pups from eras without pro sports. Gibbs is from before the idea was born. Kirk is from after, sadly. Gibbs is also from before the rise of modern attitudes towards exercise. Kirk, OTOH, is very much an athlete who in his prime could compete in whatever sport you could mention. He ran the Starfleet Academy marathon as both a cadet and an instructor, and is a good swimmer, boxer and wrestler. And yes, an expert horseman.

Charlie never had much use for sports of any sort, and the older he gets the less he likes them. If it were up to him, pro sports would be strictly regulated and sane salary caps would be slapped on all the athletes making millions chasing after balls. And do not get him started about the NCAA. That said, he would be able to hold his own in most Olympic sports, and could probably learn to hit or throw or catch the given ball in a short time.

Howard has only average athletic skill, and is only in good shape because he maintain a non-athletic workout regimen. But he is a big baseball and college football fan, with allegiance to the Detroit Tigers, Cal Tech and Michigan, and most teams in Michigan. He is often on the golf course for business reasons and plays tennis (mixed doubles) for social reasons. He rarely plays to win, though. Better to be a gracious loser with a potential business partner or with his latest woman of interest.

Cy once dreamed of being a pro football player. He can't play anymore, but he still follows the teams in Jump City and at his college.

And Knox...I gave him all my sports love, but more ability than I will ever have. Gotham, in his world, is home to the Mets, Giants, Knicks and Rangers (Metropolis has the other real world NYC teams). He follows all fanatically, with a special love for the bedraggled Mets. He also pays attention to pretty much every sport that is played anywhere, to the point that he will watch the World Cup final every four years and come away wondering what the rest of the world sees in the sports. He has been an active softball player in the Gotham Press League, and is a decent first baseman with surprising home run power.

Lastly, a shout out to all the Brits on Andy Murray's rousing victory. And (as Murray is the first Scotsman to win Wimbeldon) congrats on achieving it without the help of alien blancmonges! (For the Monty Python-impaired, that refers to this.)

[inlovewithwords]

Lois would like to protest on her counterpart's behalf at being stuck with the Yankees in Knox's version of reality.

[jjprobert]

He's not actually the first Scot to win Wimbledon. Harold Mahoney won the championships in 1896...

[gavin62truck]

Tommy is definitely a sports fan: hockey, baseball, football, basketball. He's the co-captain (he would argue about the "co" part) of the FDNY hockey team and is one of their roughest defense players. He used to play Little League baseball when he was a kid -- according to his brother he sucked at bat but was good with a glove as an outfielder. Tommy doesn't play basketball if he can help it because he is hilariously bad and resorts to pushing, shoving, full body checking, and tripping the opposing players.

It's clear from canon that Tommy is a Yankees fan, but he tends to wear t-shirts from different hockey teams, which to me means that he is loyal to the sport as a whole rather than just one team. (Although I'm sure it would've pained Denis Leary greatly to wear a Rangers logo.)

[damncompass]

Joshua's only college team was the speech and debate team, but I think he played Quidditch at CERN. He's a decent Beater. (For the uninitiated, yes, it's a real thing. I volunteered at two World Cups) I think he tried to take up tennis once, but he was miserable at it. He was at the University of Nebraska during the height of the Cornhusker powerhouse phenomenon, but he really gave none of the shits. The out-of-doors is for people who aren't scientists. (Although, he does indulge in the occasional walk or jog.)

Helena does not particularly understand organized sport. If Pete's watching something on TV, she might hang around and make snarky remarks, but she doesn't really get the pull. She does, however, know Martial Arts, specifically Kempo.

[dreamed_a_dream]

Also, because she just got approved...

Fantine is not exactly sure what this sport-thing is.

[death_gone_mad]

The only thought that I can remember regarding sports and my pups is that Amascut kinda sorta follows skullball.

It's a sport practiced by werewolves, oddly enough for Amascut, in which an irregularly shaped ball (to use a euphemism) is kicked through a circuit of gates arranged randomly around a circular track laid down on uneven ground. the goal is to complete a lap faster than your competitor.

It's like soccer+croquet :P

[inlovewithwords]

Henry doesn't care, and we never hear about sports in Alera, so Tavi's off the table.

Lois likes sports. I'm sure she played flag or touch football with the guys on the base growing up and is probably more vicious and dangerous than she looks; I think as a kid she also played softball. But she loves football. She calls out football plays in her sleep. The Metropolis team is called the Sharks, and do not bet against them, Lois will make you suffer, win or lose. To a lesser degree she supports the other Metropolis sports teams (though at least she agrees with Clark on which of their baseball teams she supports, the Monarchs).

[gone_byebye]

Gordon doesn't care about sports. There was a a time before Black Mesa when he competed in downhill mountain bike racing, when he got the chance. He came very close to a regional championship before taking a nasty tumble at close to fifty miles an hour and breaking his collarbone; somehow he managed to get up and get back on the bike and cross the finish line before passing out. millicanon backstory created entirely to justify FPS protagonist levels of toughness and balance whut

Shephard used to pay attention to a couple of college sports teams back when such things existed. He played ice hockey and rugby in Rowlesburg and kept up the rugby thing in the Marines, although that was pretty much purely intramural, not pro. He is firmly of the opinion that if rugby were supposed to be easy they would have called it football. Also, soccer is not football, it is soccer. (Yes, I know. Character parochialism, not mun parochialism.)

Cartoon!Ray is a Mets fan, as there is at least one reference to him having season tickets during a 'but the world's about to end' scene. The Ray I've played in the Bar has been Millicanoned as a Yankees fan. Beyond that he doesn't care about sports to any recognizable degree, although he may occasionally go to Islanders games with his nephews.

Medic and Mordin don't care. Varric is from a world where professional sports don't exist.

Ellen is vaguely aware that professional sports used to exist- I'm half inclined to say that Vault 101's collection of classic films included Pride of the Yankees and maybe something inspirational about an American team beating the pants off some filthy filthy Commies- but by her time, they don't exist any more. She did once encounter a gang of raiders who had taken it into their heads that ice hockey was a nationwide form of gladiatorial combat before the Great War and that they were going to find an old Nuka-Cola formula for clear Nuka-Cola and use that to somehow bring back the glory days of the ice gangs, so, uh, yeah.

And then there's Santo. He's El Santo, for God's sake, he's a Mexican cultural icon and sports superstar. Yes, lucha libre is as fixed as American wrestling, but within his canon it's real (and capable of defeating Martians, wolfmen, Moon Nazis, and global counterfeiting rings), so professional sports have made him the most famous man in Mexico.

[md_donighal]

She did once encounter a gang of raiders who had taken it into their heads that ice hockey was a nationwide form of gladiatorial combat before the Great War and that they were going to find an old Nuka-Cola formula for clear Nuka-Cola and use that to somehow bring back the glory days of the ice gangs, so, uh, yeah.

...if we were talking about any other canon, I'd be able safely to assume you were making that up. But since it's Fallout, I have to ask if that's canonical, and moreover to ask knowing there's a significant chance that the answer is along the lines of "yes, this one's all on Bethesda".

[gavin62truck]

Someday Ellen is going to have to tell Tommy about the ice hockey gangs.

[1nv1nc1ble]

Better "Pride of the Yankees" or "Knute Rockne, All American" than "The Longest Yard." :)

[minkhollow]

Cata, Sam and Red are all from worlds where this doesn't apply (Ruby, on the other hand, is probably a die-hard Red Sox fan on principle).

Claudia gives none of the shits.

Apollo finds the Olympics distressingly clothed, these days, but is overall glad to see them revived.

Imp doesn't pay attention to what football exists on the Disc at the moment, and won't really care after it's better organised.

Quidditch puts Regulus to sleep.

...I sense a theme. XD

As for me: Never really got into pro sports, though I'll root for my formerly-local college basketball team unconditionally. I think some of my indifference to pro sports comes from Cincinnati pretty much... not having very good teams when I was growing up.
(That said, my senior year of college there was a moment where it would either be Cleveland or Boston in the World Series; I was all set to field 'you're from Ohio, right, so you're rooting for Cleveland, right?' questions - answer: No, it's Cleveland! - but Boston advanced so it was moot.)

[dreamed_a_dream]

Joshua thinks that the Warehouse should start a Quidditch team. Who they'd play...

oh god. Warehouse v. Global Dynamics.

HELP US ALL.

[the_gene_genie]

If you're a bloke, and you don't support Man City, Gene thinks you're a poof. Or scum, if you support Man United. If you're a woman who likes football, you're probably a lesbian.

Which is to say yes, Gene is a fan of professional sport. And obsessive about football. He has a season ticket for City, and will get to as many away, and Cup, matches as work allows. He also follows cricket, snooker, boxing, darts, horse racing, greyhound racing - and to a lesser degree, rugby and tennis (sport for posh twats - I don't know why cricket isn't counted in this, but that's how he rolls). Basically, he'll watch whatever game is on TV, and goes to the football as often as he can. He plays football with the CID lads (describes himself as crap), and is very good at snooker, pool and darts. Pub games, basically.

[biggerstingers]

...and to a lesser degree, rugby and tennis (sport for posh twats...)

I really hope you were just talking about tennis here Gene.

[bjornwilde]

Ben Grimm loves sports. All sports. Period. He loves the big leagues, the little leagues, the kid's leagues and the olympic level. He used to play college football (what we American's call football that is) but moved on. He's also been a title holder in the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation but has since retired.

I imagine he coaches kids teams within New York City, likely Pop Warner or Little League teams as Football and Baseball are the sports closest to his heart. I like to think he pretends to think Hockey isn't a real sport anytime he's around Wolverine, just to mess with him.

Hank seems like he would follow baseball. I know in the comics, he played football in high school and the X-men do have a thing for baseball but movie canon doesn't really give hints to leisure time. I think he would also be interested in gymnastics but hide it since at the time it likely isn't seen as a man's sport.

Val for once is speaking up! She loves football (what we poor American's call soccer) and was taught the sport by Mia Hamm. This is canon. Val also loves her hoverboard.

Jess loves watching Ultimate Fighter and speed skating. ETA: I totally forgot head canon. Jess *loves* surfing and follows the sport avidly as well as practicing it. Anything on the board works for her; paddle, wind or wave.

[mnt_raph]

Raph. Loves. Sports.
Baseball, hockey, Quiddich. Loves them. He's got less love for the sport of Tortall than his home sports, but he still loves them just the same.

Mike loves being active, but prefers games to outright sports, which he thinks have too many rules. He'll take a pick up game of basketball over an actual game any day. Watching other people play is just...boring.

Splinter hasn't done much in the way of sporting since his sons outgrew him, but he is the one who taught them Apple.

Aang is great at Airball and loved to watch Bison Polo.

Bumi, like most people in his day in age, LOVES pro-bending. Loves it.
In fact the only thing Bumi doesn't like about pro-bending is that he can't play, but yelling and trash talking from the side-lines is so entertaining that he really doesn't dwell on the non-bending part so much.

[mighty_avenger]

Carol would probably love pro-bending. You know, if she knew it existed.

[haole_cop]

Danny loves the Jets. Passionately, devotedly. I mean, loves. Don't bother trying to talk him out of it. He also loves hockey and baseball. His personal idea of Paradise is Yankee Stadium. Fanon has him as a pretty decent hockey player, and he's not bad at football, either, despite his size. He's very quick and light on his feet, and extremely athletic, easily able to hold his own even once a fight turns nasty. He's often depicted as a boxer in fics, preferring hitting the heavy bag to free weights or more traditional cardio.

He does, however, have a passionate hatred for all water activities: swimming, sailing, surfing. You name it, Danny hates it. He has good reason to distrust the ocean. He can swim, but as he puts it, for survival, not for fun. He also learned how to surf, as a way of having something he and his daughter could learn together (in other news, he is the best dad of ever).

Emma really isn't one for physical activity. She's not exactly a "team sports" kind of girl, and lacks the competitive spirit necessary to excel in something like tennis or swimming. She's in reasonably good shape, but that seems to mostly be due to decent genes and a lifetime spent on the road. What I'm saying is, she'd probably be last picked for a game of pick-up baseball, and she really doesn't understand the classic obsession with professional sports.

Caspian is athletic without having any really clear comprehension of the modern term of the word. He's in excellent shape from riding, swimming, walking through the woods and keeping up with his swordplay, but team sports never really made their way to Narnia. He would, however, probably do extremely well in the joust, were there ever to be a tournament. You also want him on your side in hand-to-hand combat, particularly if there are swords and/or daggers involved. He would deeply love watching the Olympics, especially the summer games.

Wolfwood doesn't believe in strenuous physical activity. If forced to participate, he would cheat.

Jack is newly off the rodeo circuit (maybe? I'm kind of futzing with his timeline) and is the kind of scrappy-strong that means he can stick on a raging, twisting, two-thousand pound tornado of angry bull for upwards of eight seconds (on a good day). He can lift a full-grown sheep without too much effort, and wrestle a calf to the ground. If you ask him to run a mile, though, he'd get winded, fast. But why would he run anywhere? That's what horses are for, right?

And lastly, my brand-new buddy Nathan is definitely in shape, definitely played team sports in his youth, and definitely no longer does. Sports and athletics are kind of a hazard when you can't feel how hard anything hits you (or how hard you hit anyone else).

[mighty_avenger]

Carol: I can't recall anything from recent canon, but my headcanon is that although she's not a superfan, Carol's still loyal to the Red Sox. She obviously incredibly fit, but she usually works out by running or punching things (or sparring with other Avengers). She's game for a casual match of whatever, the more bizarre the better.

Mary: Is an accomplished equestrian. Competing would be unladylike, but if riding were more than just a diversion to her, she'd be very good. And she of course attends the races during the Season, and has been known to enjoy a friendly cricket match at Downton.

Stiles: Plays lacrosse (poorly) and runs cross country (also poorly, and only because it's required for out of season lacrosse players). Any other sports he plays involve a video game console (running for your life = not actually a sport). Made the rounds of Parks & Rec sponsored soccer, baseball, etc. in elementary school and was, even then, enthusiastic but distressingly average at all of it.

[damncompass]

Oh, man. Now Joshua wants to bring a game console into Milliways and start a Mario Kart tournament or something.

[1nv1nc1ble]

Mark's pretty ambivalent about watching sports. Given that Nolan's home culture considers physical violence part of its everyday business, I think that Omni-Man probably found Earth sports boring. As such, sports were probably not much present in Mark's house, though he absorbed enough of it through the general culture of growing up American.

Mark does own a baseball and a couple of gloves; canonically, it's been shown that he and his father play catch. In my head, I think he's partial to baseball (as a player, though he probably likes watching it from time to time) but hasn't played since Little League. Now that his powers have manifested, he's of the opinion that he really can't play, having no one in the Image-verse that can keep up with him except for the Viltrumites (who probably wouldn't get the idea of baseball anyway).

[ceitfianna]

Will is from an era without that many team sports but he excels at quarterstaff during the tournaments at the fair, and is good with a bow and a blade. Since being in Milliways, he's aware of team sports but doesn't really get them.

Charles likes the idea of team sports but they're not really his thing. I feel like as a boy he probably was involved in a variety of sports; baseball, horseback riding, maybe rugby or lacrosse. But his involvement was to be a part of them and he enjoys being active, they're just not a huge part of who he is. I'm sure if asked, he knows where all the various teams are at since that's important knowledge but its not what he follows by choice.

Sameth played rugby and cricket while at Somersby and misses them a lot. Ellimere has introduced tennis to the Old Kingdom but in his mind, its just not the same. He's athletic due to being a prince who is trained in knowing how to use the sword and other weapons, but he misses how sports worked at Somersby.

William knows about baseball and has probably played it a time or two but since he isn't always comfortable with the other kids of his age, its not a big thing for him. He's athletic due to the work he does and if he were to compete in a sport, he would do best in boxing or some form of sharpshooting.

Moist is a good runner and rider and usually knows enough about local sports to get by but doesn't care that much about them.

Jane enjoys walking and probably knows how to ride but athletics are not something women do in her time. A lady is only meant to exert herself so much, she does more since she does chores but otherwise not too much.

Demeter is a goddess and so finds more mortal sports rather charming and enjoyable to watch but never invests that much in them.

Tumnus, I'm not sure, there seems a great tradition of dancing and movement in Narnia but I don't know about actual sports other than bopping a ball around sometimes. He's in decent shape but not the most athletic of fauns.

The Pirate King doesn't need sports, he's a pirate.

[thebattycakes]

Half hour left, go clock, gooo!

Bill is the pup with the most sports affection. Football, specifically. He was quarterback of the hometown team back in high school, and while they were lousy as hell (and still are), he loved it. Lucky(?) for him, he knows he never had a shot at going past small town Friday night lights, though, so doesn't really suffer from the 'Glory Days' syndrome. They're fond memories that he'll relive once in awhile if he can get someone to throw a ball around with, or from the couch thanks to Madden.

He's also a diehard Colts fan, with a particular attachment to Peyton Manning. It's going to just kill him when he reaches that point where Manning gets dumped and ends up with the Broncos. Like really, I've considered Millicanoning that it doesn't happen, because of the woe. *RIDICULOUS*

Other sports? He's a passing fan? He'll watch a basketball game if it comes with a beer, and he'll spend an afternoon at the ballpark but mostly for the hotdogs (he actually has a thing against baseball players. Not quite an animosity, but mostly he contends it not a real sport :X). He won't play either of these, though, because he's pretty lousy.

Golf, soccer and hockey are pretty much right out the window. Golf is boring. Soccer is, too. And hockey, he's from small town South Carolina, hockey just doesn't exist.

Next would be Charlie, who is of course an ex boxer. He loved, loves the sport, and the whole robot thing isn't just about making a living, it's about clinging to that one part of his past. It isn't the same, but it's all that's left.

He'll watch other sports but only really roots for a team if he's got money on them.

Hellboy would love to play sports professionally. Nevermind he'd never bother to learn the rules or anything, he'd like the limelight and is sure he'd be a star. But, he doesn't really watch or follow anyone, and has sadly never sat in the bleachers for any games.

Logan likes hunting, but when it involves people it's generally frowned upon by others. If you want to call his fighting a sport then maaaybe you could say he's a sports fan? Otherwise, not so much.

[jjprobert]

It's a little late, yeah, Wimbledon wrapped on Sunday.

On to the pups:
Bean cares not a jot. In a little while, Battle School will take over, and that certainly isn't professional at any level, but the Battle Room is very, very competitive.

Jack's not bothered about Professional level sport. Instead, he's more up for stuff like Rock-Climbing and things like that.

Alfred is a man for Tennis, which he still plays at a firmly amateur, local club level, and Cricket.

Erik and Max aren't much for playing sport, and neither of them really bothers with pro-level sport either. They prefer their research.