Dads & Sports

To this day, even at my advanced age, the scene in the movie “Field of Dreams” still breaks me up.

“Hey dad, wanna have a catch?”

On Sunday we celebrated Father’s Day. To me, it’s not about honoring fathers. It’s about all our children who made us fathers. It’s about having a catch, making a basket, shooting a puck, or kicking a soccer ball.

My boys are 26 and 22 now, but I will never forget the first time they put on a football uniform. It’s a memory that will last forever for me.

Sports has always been, and always will be, something that brings fathers and sons and daughters together. My own father was there for me at my Little League – until the time when I hit a foul ball into the parking lot and cracked his windshield.

He was there for me when I was cut from the basketball team. That’s what fathers and mothers and caregivers are there for – to encourage and console.

I’ll never forget the first time I sat down with my father to watch a football game. It’s one of my earliest memories. He asked me to root for the New York Giants. I spent the whole game rooting for the Green Bay Packers because they had a giant “G” on their helmets. Go figure.

When it became apparent that I wasn’t going to be a pro athlete, he steered me toward sports journalism. I have been blessed to travel and cover some of the biggest sporting events in the world.

Sometimes, fathers really do know best.

“Hey dad, wanna have a catch?”

Rich Thomaselli is a longtime sports reporter in the Hudson Valley, and currently covers Putnam County. He can be reached at rich.thomaselli@gmail.com.