Growing up, I was never a big sports fan. I would always see my brother-in-law and cousin Steve watching “the big game” at family gatherings and wondered what was so captivating. Whether they were watching football, baseball or basketball – I never got the urge to sit with them on the couch or the sofa. But yesterday, I watched three different sporting events back to back all day and all night long – and had one of the most exciting days of my life doing so.

The first sporting event of the day was NASCAR’s Food City 500, which took place at 12:30pm at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. With a lap distance of only 0.533 miles and a track bank of thirty-six degrees – this is one of the season’s toughest races – which was proven yesterday with an amazing two hour and seventeen minute race that saw a total of twenty-six cars involved in a record fourteen different accidents. In fact, 102 of the 150 laps were raced under the caution flag. In the end, Kevin Harvick drove into Victory Lane to take the top prize – and I saw one of the most action-packed, edge-of-your-seat NASCAR races I have ever seen.

The second event I watched was one I have watched every year since I was fourteen years old – Wrestlemania. This year’s event was held at the Staples Center in California and was dubbed, “Wrestlemania Goes Hollywood.” Packed with your standard title matches and usual feud-culminating brawls – this year’s event saw the return of two of the greatest men to ever enter the WWE – “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan. Piper was expected to be on the card, because he hosted a live Piper’s Pit – with Stone Cold Steve Austin as his special guest. Hogan, who was not scheduled to be on the card, but was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the day before – shocked the entire crowd in the arena and at home when he came to the aid of another wrestler. I remember that I was talking to my friend Lisa when, in the middle of my sentence – I heard Hogan’s music and began to react as I did when I was a “Hulkamaniac.” In the end, two new champions were crowned in John Cena and Batista – and I watched yet another incredible Wrestlemania.

The third part of my sports trifecta was probably the most important of them all – it was the Yankees Home Opener against of all teams – the Boston Red Sox. Fresh off the World Series loss that the Yankees basically handed The Red Sox – fans of the Bronx Bombers were eager for some payback – and in true Yankee fashion – that’s just what we got. In an extremely dominant performance, the Yankees beat the Red Sox by a score of 9-2. In front of 54,818 fans, Randy Johnson put on his pinstripes for the first time and instantly earned them – allowing only one run over six innings, and striking out six. The Yankees, on the other hand, got fifteen hits off of the Red Sox and saw five different Yankees score runs – with the lion’s share going to Hideki Matsui – who had three hits, including a home run and three RBIs. Although October may be a lifetime away right now – I think this first message to the Red Sox and Major League Baseball as a whole is a very strong one.

Over the years, I have been a sports fan, but yesterday was the first day I dedicated an entire day to watching sports – and while I did not care for it as a teenager – now I see what all the fuss was about.