Given my occupation, I spend almost all of my working time watching, thinking and writing about sports. And as a person who truly loves sports, I spend a good deal of my free time watching sports, too. It’s an obsession.

But I don’t obsess about whether my team wins or loses, not in the way die-hard fans often do. There aren’t even very many teams I care about. I just want interesting, close games with compelling storylines.

As a sports writer, the outcome of games is rarely of much importance to me. Or rather, what happens is important (certainly the final score and winner is very important), but I don’t have a personal stake in which team wins. It just doesn’t matter to me. I love being a sports writer because I love sports.

I love watching a diving catch in the outfield, a come-from-behind victory or a windmill slam-dunk. I love learning about the people involved. Watching a pitcher come back from a disastrous arm injury to play again or an athlete succeed on the field, in the classroom and in the community is inspiring.

Sports are about people. That’s what I love.

But this week, things are a little different. It’s personal. I have a confession to make: I’m not from here. My hometown is Austin, Texas, and I spent most of the last five years attending the University of Houston. And at no time in the seven weeks since I came to Natchez have I been made more painfully aware of my self-imposed exile from the Lone Star State than this week.

Growing up in Texas all but condemns you to a life of football obsession. (Quick: What are the two biggest sports in Texas? Football and spring football.) And this week’s sporting events have made it clear that the Texan in me is still not quite used to being on the east side of the Mississippi River.

And coming to join me in the great state of Mississippi are none other than the UH Cougars. This game won’t have much of a national profile, but tonight in Hattiesburg it will occupy much of my attention. I get to cover the game in which my alma mater will face the Golden Eagles. The Cougars will probably be handed an ugly defeat by a very talented Southern Miss team.

As a fan of Texas football, the Red River Shootout, this weekend’s annual showdown between Texas and Oklahoma, will be in my thoughts. The Longhorns, a team I grew up idolizing, will face their greatest nemesis, a team that has thwarted their Big 12 and national championship plans the last several years.

The Houston Astros, a team I’ve rooted for since childhood, has also been in the news. After a season of disappointment, the ‘Stros put together an improbable run and made the playoffs. Then they beat Atlanta 9-3 Wednesday to take an early lead in the opening round playoff series.

The sports fan in me is desperately trying to break out. But I’ll stay strong. My teams will win or lose no matter how I feel.

I just hope the games are good.

Christian Schmidt is a sports writer for The Natchez Democrat. Reach him at (601) 445-3633 or at

christian.schmidt@natchezdemocrat.com

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