Goose loves soccer. He played it, he coaches it, and he can be heard screaming at the television many Saturday mornings while watching European League Soccer.
On our trip to Boston last summer, he headed to a pub in Cambridge to watch one of the World Cup games, and he was in Heaven. He loves the songs, the chants, and the culture.
Me? Well, sometimes I try. I understand that the basic idea behind soccer is to kick the ball into the opponent’s net and that you can’t use your hands. That is about as far as it goes. When Goose tries to excitedly share a play-by-play of an intense game, my eyes glaze over and I’m completely lost. In fact, at times, I’ve even said, “Sweetie, if you just want to tell me this because you want to say it, I’m happy to listen. But please know I do not understand a word of it.” (He usually keeps right on talking.)
When people find out that I love triathlon, I frequently get asked, “Does your husband do all that stuff too?” No, he doesn’t. To be fair, he understands a great deal more about triathlon than I do about soccer, but it isn’t a top priority for him to understand how to sight in open water swimming, what stretches I need to do after a long run, or how to make sure I have the proper nutrition for a long bike. He is, however, very good at cheering for me and wearing super supportive t-shirts.
Goose and I have many things in common, but I love that we have some very different interests, too. He has taught me about history and politics, and I actually watch several political commentary shows with him now! I love being informed about what’s going on in our country, and I’m glad that I learned that from him.
On many recent evenings, the History Channel’s How the States Got Their Shapes has been on in my house. It is fascinating! We’ve been learning all about why the US map looks the way it does, and let me tell you, it’s not as simple as you might think. Landforms, railroads, politics, and more went into making our states look the way they do today. (We DVR the shows and watch them later, but it airs on Tuesdays at 10/9 central.)
Without Goose, I would have never thought to flip on the docu-series.
He supports the things I love, and I support his passions — even the ones I don’t understand. Those differences give us things to talk about and help us discover new things we’ll enjoy together.
What new interests have you acquired from a friend or loved one?
Forward is a Pace 
I’m with golf about how you are with soccer. I try to get it sometimes, for conversation’s sake, but I typically end up commenting on what the players are wearing :)
Golfers wear odd things! There is plenty to comment about.
Yep – I’m happy my husband rides with me (it’s always nice to have riding buddies!) but beyond that it’s actually good for us that he’s not interested in triathlon – he’s got his own things and I’ve got mine. Sometimes (like biking) they intersect but it’s also just good for us to do stuff on our own!
Cycling is the one part of triathlon I wish I could get the husband into. Riding buddies are oh-so-nice.
Steve is into golf and racquetball. I have tried both and failed miserably. I am convinced that I am trainable as far as golf, but it will have to wait until retirement. He is also the one who got me into cycling, it’s not his fault I went all crazy and got into triathlon!
I want to be trainable in golf, but I’m not sure I am! I do have clubs, but that’s about as far as I’ve gotten. :)
Then you are many steps ahead of me, I don’t even have clubs!
I actually got into running races because of my boyfriend! After he started running ultras, I became inspired to start running half marathons…hard not to! His next goal is to get me to run with him but I’m still intimidated haha :)
Too funny! Don’t be intimidated. :) Running together can be fun!
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