Hah! My father was right-off-the-boat in 1948. The only thing(s) he knew about sports he picked up from me while i was watching a game on TV.
Several memories do stand out though. He of course quickly picked up on the fact that I liked the Chicago Blackhawks. I still remember him commenting in 1969-70 that he absolutely couldn't bear to look at Bobby Hull wearing that hairpiece/wig. The word "wig" in Lithuanian sounds particularly effeminate and thus risible.
He of course realized that I liked the Edmonton Eskimos and noticed that Canadian teams played only other Canadian teams while American teams played only other American teams. He wondered why they didn't let them all play together.
He also noticed that NASCAR races in 1974-76 almost always came down to Richard Petty's Dodge (for which I was cheering) and David Pearson's Mercury battling for first in the final turn.
Baseball though he didn't like at all because of the slow pace and the fellow just standing there waving his bat. But then one day circa 1982 he was astonished to notice that the pitcher seemed t. actually make the ball curve. "You bet they can!" I replied.
