Since we are in the middle of March Madness, I thought I’d talk a little bit about Sports Fanatics. You know the person, the one that watches their team or any team play every game, listens to it on the radio or smartphone. The one that has to wear the correct sports gear and reads all the sports commentary they can find online. They also watch sports commentary shows and follow as many individual team players as they can find on social media.

I never thought I’d say this, but I’m married to one of these individuals, a sports fanatic! In her case though, she doesn’t care for basketball, baseball, or even football. It’s not the American League or National League. She doesn’t follow college sports, international soccer, or even golf (sigh). Her sport is rodeo, specifically, bull riding, and her league is the PBR, Professional Bull Riders.

If you live with a sports fanatic, I’m sure you hear all about the different teams like the U of I, the Bears, and even the Cubs. Or maybe it’s players that are in the news like Tom Brady, and Aaron Judge or Lebron James. For me, I hear about Daylon Swearingen, Jose Vitor Leme, and Kaique Pacheco. (had to look up how to spell those) And of course, I also hear about who’s not riding this week because of a broken wrist, broken ribs, a recent concussion, or many of the other injuries they incur. And then there’s the drama behind the scenes, like if Jess Lockwood will ever be back riding and up to his world championship standards again. (Yes, the PBR has its own Tiger Woods)

To add to all this excitement around here, this year the PBR also created team events that took place between the regular individual competition season events. I used to get scoffed at because Suzanne thought golf was on TV year around. Well the table has turned now and the PBR season is year around, and if they could find a way to make it longer, I’m sure she’d watch it.

Every morning like clockwork, while she eats her breakfast, she watches the PBR from the previous week. I’ll walk by to hear a loud “YES, he made it”; or “Come on, hurry up, you’re on the clock”; and there’s always a big “OH NO!” expressing sincere grief as she watches a rider get trampled by the bull. But what’s unusual about this sports fanatic is that she really doesn’t care who wins. At the moment a rider gets on a bull, that rider is no doubt her favorite, until the next rider gets on the next bull.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching sports on TV also; Well, I enjoy watching golf on the weekends; Actually, I enjoy watching golf for usually about a half an hour as a take a quick Pepsi break on a Sunday afternoon. Anyway, I digress.

I can enjoy watching the rodeo with Suzanne and traveling to places with her to see the rodeo live. Actually, the rodeo is a big part of our annual vacation plans; Going to Las Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo, Louisville for the regional finals, and anywhere local she can find where a rodeo is on. Surprisingly, we’ve never ventured to a PBR event, and I don’t know why. Regionally, the PBR has events annually in Chicago and St. Louis, but we’ve just never been.

So if you feel like a sports fanatics widow as your significant other sits in front of the screen and often shares their displeasure with a call or a play, you’re not alone. But for me, Suzanne’s not just any sports fanatic, she’s my sports fanatic.

anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.

2 Timothy 2:5