by Frederick C. Klein
1
I never have trouble making conversation with people I meet on airplanes. All I have to do is tell them that I write about sports and they open right up.
2
Thus, I was taken aback some weeks ago when, on a Miami-to-Chicago flight, I found myself sitting next to someone who merely grimaced when I revealed my occupation. “It has always been my bad luck to be thrown in with sports fans,” he said. “I can say without hesitation that I am not one.”
3
The gentleman introduced himself as Robert Anderson, an agronomist1 on the faculty of the University of Minnesota. A few minutes of general chitchat revealed him to be an intelligent fellow, and a good-humored one to boot. After we got to know one another a bit, I expressed surprise that he, a middle-aged American, could expect to avoid sports. He conceded he had had some contact with them over the years.
4
“I’ve gone to two baseball games in my life—my first and my last,” he quipped. “It was at Wrigley Field in Chicago, and I remember that the weather was chilly. Someone sang the national anthem nicely, but it was downhill from there. If it had been up to me, I’d have left after the third inning.
5
“I went to one football game in Minneapolis. Minnesota played the University of Nebraska, where I went to school. The only thing that kept it from being a total loss for me was that a dog got loose and ran around on the field.
6
“I took a group of Cub Scouts to see a hockey game once, but I didn’t see much of it, because the kids kept racing off for hot dogs. I spent the whole evening worrying that the game would end and I’d have fewer kids than I brought.”
7
Mr. Anderson said that he had made several stabs at informing himself about sports by reading newspaper sports pages, but the experiences left him feeling like a man from Mars. “Sports pages are written for the cognoscenti,”2 he said. “You can read whole, long stories that never mention what sport they’re about.” (I’ve checked this out, and he’s right!)
8
He said that he’s not totally oblivious, and as a resident of Minneapolis knows who the Twins and Vikings are, but other sports-page terms still throw him. “What is the Stanley Cup?” he asked. “What is the USFL?”3 (What indeed?)
9
“It’s not because of lack of exposure that I’m not a fan; goodness knows, I’ve had my chances,” he said. “As a scientist, I can only conclude that my aversion to sports is congenital.4 There must be something in me that doesn’t allow them to ‘take.’”
10
(I have long suspected the same thing. My 12-year-old daughter, Jessie, has grown up in a household of avid fans, and has been dragged to numerous athletic contests. Yet every time the rest of us settle in for an evening of ballgame-watching on television, she wails “Sports again?!”)
11
Nonetheless, my flying companion noted that being a non-fan hasn’t spared him the company of sports nuts. To the contrary, “at meetings and such, they seem to sense my presence and seek me out,” he said. “For a long time I was faced with the choice of being rude, or standing there and being bored.”
12
Then, he went on, he discovered how to avoid both of those unpleasant alternatives. “I found out that if I could throw out one little line about sports—anything at all—they’d grab it and jabber on. I could think my own thoughts while they were talking, and slip away gracefully after they were done.”
13
Mr. Anderson’s line was “the Twins haven’t been the same since they traded Vic Power.” He said it worked great for quite a while, but recently it has been getting him some funny looks. I said that was no wonder, because the Twins traded Power in 1964, and the memory of him might have dimmed for some.
14
He said he didn’t realize that, and asked me if I could suggest another one. I told him I thought “Cal Griffith should sell the team” might do. He thought that seemed too obvious (“you have to show some sophistication”), but he said he’d think it over.
15
I’ve thought it over, too, and I’ve decided that a sports column ought to be of use to everyone once in a while. So here are a few getaway lines for you non-fans out there:
16
“The Phillies blew the pennant when they traded away Reed and Hernandez.”
17
“Bob Horner would be a heckuva lot better hitter if he’d lose 20 pounds.”
18
“If the refs called all the fouls they should on Moses Malone, he’d never finish a game.”
19
“Joe Namath was a better quarterback than any of those guys who are around now.”
20
“The Vikings will never be the same without Bud Grant.”
21
Oh yes. The sports involved in the above statements are baseball, basketball, and football. And the Twins are a baseball team.
1agronomist: working with various soil and plant sciences
2cognoscenti,”: a person of discriminating taste
3USFL?”: United States Football League
4congenital.: existing before or at birth
“Sports Talk with a Non-Fan” by Frederick C. Klein, copyright © 1991 by Frederick C. Klein. Reprinted from The Wall Street Journal, copyright © April 26, 1991. Dow Jones Company. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Which sentence from the passage foreshadows the conflict?
Responses
All I have to do is tell them that I write about sports and they open right up.
All I have to do is tell them that I write about sports and they open right up.
“It has always been my bad luck to be thrown in with sports fans . . .”
“It has always been my bad luck to be thrown in with sports fans . . .”
“I can say without hesitation that I am not one.”
“I can say without hesitation that I am not one.”
He conceded he had had some contact with them over the years.
9 answers
The sentence that foreshadows the conflict is:
“It has always been my bad luck to be thrown in with sports fans . . .”
This sentence suggests a negative sentiment towards sports fans, indicating a potential clash between the sports-focused author and the non-fan who is expressing his aversion to the topic of sports. This sets the stage for their interaction during the flight.
The part of the passage that provides an example of flashback is:
when Anderson describes his sports experiences.
This section recounts Anderson's past experiences with sports events, reflecting on specific instances he has had, which constitutes a flashback to those earlier moments in his life.
Anderson cannot learn much from reading the sports pages because:
Most articles can only be understood by people who know sports.
He expresses that sports pages are written for the cognoscenti and often do not mention the specific sport being discussed, making it difficult for someone without a background in sports to understand them.
Mr. Anderson’s use of one little line about sports began getting him some funny looks because:
His line was no longer current.
He used the line about Vic Power, who was traded in 1964, and the memory of him might have dimmed for newer generations, making the reference outdated.
The best summary of the passage is:
Klein and Anderson agree that they each share different views on sports yet have an engaging chat.
This encapsulates the differing perspectives on sports while highlighting the overall engaging nature of their conversation.
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