Sports and the Lady

If your girl is a sports nut, played on four intercollegiate teams and knows what the blue line is, you can stop reading now. For the rest of you, here are some tips for bringing your girl up to speed on sports and making a date at the game or all-day TV bash more enjoyable for the both of you:

• First of all, take it slow. Much like that overbearing parent who beats the fun right out of baseball by sending his 3 year old to a two-month summer camp, trying to get your lady to enjoy -- let alone understand -- your games takes time. Start with something easy; hopefully, your favorite sport doesn't take a team of engineers to explain. Begin with the basics. If we're talkin' baseball, four balls is a walk, three outs an inning and maybe a little strategy, like the sacrifice bunt. Don’t jump right into computing ERA and the virtues of the designated hitter.

• Don't make it just rules and numbers. Bring in the "people" element to make things more interesting. Bring up Jason Taylor on Dancing with the Stars, or how Joe Morgan is a terrible announcer and sold out with his new practice tee bobblehead thing. (What Joe? Announcing on ESPN just doesn’t pay what it used to?)

• Find something about it that she likes. Maybe it’s grabbing a cold beer at the stadium or hosting a couples' party for Monday Night Football. She'll come around to the sport if she enjoys the environment.

• Lastly, reciprocate. Find something she's interested in and take the initiative. This scores points with her, and lowers the chance that you'll get stuck in a knitting guild or book club. Let me suggest dance lessons. Ladies love a man who can move on the dance floor.