It’s time for guys to stop doubting girls who are sports fans

When the NBA playoffs wrapped up with the Cleveland Cavaliers winning by four points in Game 7, I could not have been more disappointed. I can admit that the Cavs definitely deserved the win, but I was pulling for the Warriors. Being invested in the playoffs as a woman brought back all of the nonsense you have to deal with when you are a girl who likes sports.

Being a girl and an avid sports fan is a huge challenge. While some girls don’t know the difference between a touchdown and a goal, there are a significant number of girls who do.

Sure, there are a lot of girls who genuinely don’t like sports – which is completely fine. But it’s not easy being a sports fan as a woman when at every turn there is someone to question and ridicule your fandom just because you have boobs. (This is also no help to the girls who pretend to like sports just to grab the attention of guys.)

In my experience, guys react in two ways when they hear a girl enjoys sports. Either they fawn over you and act like they are basically falling in love, or they question you until they have “proven” you’re not really a fan at all. Start dropping some sports knowledge and you’ll get stared at like a mystical unicorn.

However, it’s all fun and games until you seem to know more than he does. Then the guy’s ego kicks in, and the questions begin. It begins with seemingly simple questions like who won the NBA championship in 1990, or who is the quarterback for the Steelers? It then escalates to a level of ridiculousness like, what’s the name of the Red Sox’s starting pitcher’s daughter? What’s her blood type? You don’t know?! Clearly you’re not a true fan.

Just because I do not know every random piece of trivia related to sports does not mean I am a bandwagon fan. I’m a person, not an encyclopedia.

Honestly, being a girl who enjoys sports really sucks. You always get the third degree for no reason. I don’t know every single statistic or team member or coach, but I follow the season and my teams just as much as any guy. Just because girls aren’t expected to know about sports, when she does, people assume it’s bullshit. When a guy says he knows sports, people nod and assume he’s just being honest. I am not a bandwagon fan – I am as loyal to my team as any guy.

Guys should be happy girls have an interest in sports rather than ridiculing them for not knowing every small pointless detail. Sports were created to bring people together, not to tear them apart. Bringing in this sexist nonsense ruins the game for everyone. Not all guys like sports and not all girls hate sports. It’s just a fact.

So some guys need to just get over their ego and be happy that the Cavaliers won. Or drown their sorrows at the bottom of a bucket of ice cream…which is exactly what I did last night.