Timberwolves fans

Sofia, Bulgaria

I get so stressed out watching our Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team play. Time zones aren’t always on our side, so we often watch the game recordings after we wake up. Sometimes I secretly look at the score online and still get sweaty armpits during the replay. Game 7 against the Nuggets was the night before two big travel days for us, but how could we not watch it live?? Sleep wise, the 3am game time really screwed us, but it was worth it.

I wonder about professional sports. In some ways, it’s so gross and twisted. The endorsements and obscene amounts of money, the misogyny and racism, the inequality of resources. Medical experts on hand to treat every muscle fiber of these guys to snag more rebounds, but a poor, working parent goes broke when an insurance company denies critical treatment. I watch these young men with so much talent getting so much attention and earning crazy amounts of money. Who can they trust? Will they blow their windfall? It’s a lot of pressure and I worry about them a lot.

At the same time, when your team is winning, it’s so fun.

In November when the NBA season started, we opted to cancel our Netflix account and get the NBA Game Pass so with a VPN we can watch the games from wherever we are. We’ve watched games from 12 different countries, including from the Bali airport, an Airbnb in Chiang Mai, and a hostel in Swakopmund, Namibia.

What I love about watching these athletes is the unbreakable belief they have in themselves. It inspires me. Sometimes they have real shitty games or serious injuries, but they still believe they can dominate and deserve to be there. Don’t count myself out, even after a few misses, big or small.

The games are exciting and it connects us to home. I hope they win, but far more I hope these guys have people in their lives who love them dearly through it all.