I’m a pretty big sports fan. Always have been. Although I was too young to remember, my mother tells me how my father would keep me up at night as a toddler to watch Monday Night Football. It probably dates back to those days, but ever since, I’ve been a huge football fan.

It was my father who really introduced me to sports. My first pro football game was with my dad and two of my friends. The first pro baseball game I attended was a Mets-Cardinals game, also with my dad, as well as my uncle and a neighbor of his. Even my first pro basketball experience, a Knicks playoff game, was with my dad and two of his work buddies.

I’ve tried to do the same with my boys. I’ve taken them to their first pro baseball game as well as their first pro basketball game. We’re still working on football and a PGA Tour event is also on the horizon. I’ve found that a father-son connection helps create a love, or passion, for sports in general. But along the way, I’ve also discovered something else that has fueled my passion for sports…memorabilia.

Sports memorabilia helps keep me connected with my youth. When I first started collecting memorabilia, I did it strictly for monetary reasons. All I could think of was how, years from now, I’d be able to cash in on my acquisitions. However, as time went on, I started to realize my collection meant more to me than dollar signs. I began to realize how the thousands of sports cards, hundreds of autographs and various pieces of sports history brought me back to a time when I didn’t see sports as a business. It brings me back to the days when I would come home from work at night to find my father in front of the TV watching a ball game, waiting for me to join him. It reminds me of those games I attended with my dad.

I wonder if this is a reason I don’t have this same passion for golf or golf memorabilia. My father played golf a few times…found he didn’t care for the game…and promptly retired his clubs. Therefore, I wasn’t introduced to the game until my fellow stinky golfers lured me in roughly twelve or thirteen years ago. Had I been introduced at a younger age, I may view the game differently than I do.

Now, years later, I’ve gotten my boys interested in football, basketball, baseball…and somewhat, golf. I’ve seen this done by having me pass along my passion for the sports. However, they have seen my collection of memorabilia and have begun to show interest just as I did, and right around the same age. Maybe that’s the secret.

So maybe it’s time I start looking into some golf memorabilia for the boys. Then again, maybe it’s time I start looking into it for myself as well. After all, I haven’t completely ruled out financial gain…

Swing ’til you’re happy!