My son, age 27, frequently talks to me about something. I think it is because he was raised to love the Astros from a VERY young age. His birthday is in early April and ALWAYS included a trip to an Astros game in opening week. I think deep down he associates growing up with sports and specifically the Astros. He sent me a message last night that I will end this article with.
Something has happened in the city of Houston. The Astros will now go to the ALCS for the SIXTH straight time. This is only second to the Atlanta Braves run in the 1990s. Even those Braves teams had the 1994 season cancellation to give them a break from postseason stress.
I put out a Twitter poll that asked "at what age do you start having memories of sports?" I was born in 1966 and I can remember the 1972 World Series vaguely and maybe a little of my hometown Milwaukee Bucks winning the title in 1971. I think the poll consensus will be for MOST of us this is age 5 to 7.
So for the six year old in 2017, born in 2011, all THAT young child knows is the Astros being in the ALCS. EVERY year they can likely remember the Astros are one of the four last teams playing in the MLB. HALF of the time their team is playing for the championship. A generation of devoted Astros fans is being built like this city has never seen.
Imagine being that child. If they have sports fanatical parents like my son does, they have post season gear every year and grandma can make them a t-shirt quilt or whatever as they grow up. These kids ADORE Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and others on this team.
What does this level of sport success do to a child? Well, if raised right they grow up supremely confident and aware of how hard work can pay off. I think the concern has to be - Are the Astros spoiling our kids? Will they become entitled sports fans on a level never seen before? Only time will tell.
My son's message last night speaks to this- "There are kids who are in first grade that don't know it's not automatic that the Astros go to the ALCS every year."
My response to my son today- "We have the Texans to teach the city's children about managing failure."
I say we keep this Astros social experiment going for several more years. What do you all say?
Let's #LevelUp and win that championship! For the kids! We can't disappoint the kids.
Parents of 9-13 year old Astros fans, tell us your stories PLEASE.
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