A Sports Fan is Born
It’s funny how the roots of our sports fandom start at such a young age. I am a huge NBA fan, in addition to loving the NFL. Though I live in San Antonio now, I grew up in Phoenix and that’s where my love of sports began.
When I was very young, there was a local kids show on early in the morning before school - “The Wallace and Ladmo Show”. The show ran from 1954 to 1989 in Phoenix on KPHO-TV. Every kid in Phoenix knew about Wallace and Ladmo, as well as the “bad guy” Gerald and other characters. It was very goofy and had a lot of bad sketches, games and other children’s activities.
Everybody wanted to get on “The Wallace and Ladmo Show.” Kids could write in and try to get onto the show by drawing a funny cartoon, making up a joke or whatever. Well my sister (who is two years older than I am), drew a cartoon and sent it in. She was selected and invited down to the studio to be on the TV show, where she could talk to Wallace and Ladmo plus receive a “Ladmo Bag” full of goodies.
Of course, I went to the studio with her to sit in the audience and watch. Well, it was just my luck that one of the other kids that was selected that day didn’t show up. So Ladmo asked me if I wanted to join my sister on TV! Wow, I was excited.
So my sister and I joined the other kids on stage, where we talked to the hosts and received our Ladmo bags.
When I got my bag home, inside was candy, chips and other treats, as well as a pair of Phoenix Suns tickets and a pair of knee-high Phoenix Suns socks - you know the white ones with the bright purple and orange stripes.
Our family went to the Suns game and a basketball fan was born! Though I am no longer a Suns fan, I do remember the teams of the late 70’s and 80’s very well with players like Alvin Adams, Kyle Macy, Larry Nance, Truck Robinson, Walter Davis, the Van Arsdale Brothers, Paul Westphal and many more. Kyle Macy was my first sports crush. But hey, that’s another story.
Tags: b5media, basketball, childhood sports memories, nba, nba basketball, phoenix suns, sports, sports fans, sports memoriesRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Off the Field
5 opinions for A Sports Fan is Born
Jeanne
May 13, 2008 at 2:42 am
You just never know what will happen and make you love sports. What a great story (I love those socks, by the way, lol).
The only owie in this story was this: “Though I am no longer a Suns fan…” I actually laughed out loud. Oh well - you get introduced to the sport but great taste comes with time, I guess, lol.
Jodie
May 13, 2008 at 9:24 am
What Jeanne said! The “Though I am no longer a Suns fan . . .” made me chuckle, too. As a Boston fan, the idea of not becoming obsessed until death with the team you were “born into” is completely foreign. You’ve opened my eyes to a whole new world! ;)
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