By: Nikki Bregman
Happy Father’s Day! For those of us with fathers, it’s our favorite day to express how much we love the guys who taught us that real men don’t show emotion. Unfortunately, in the midst of COVID-19, there aren’t a whole lot of live options, despite various leagues gearing up to start up again soon. We’ve compiled 5 great matches, best paired with cards from CVS, to watch with your father and celebrate him on this special day.
1) VHS recordings of your little league games: It could be baseball, football, or even soccer; watching old home videos is a great trip down memory lane. For the absent fathers, it will be an amazing first watch of a game he missed for a business meeting. For the involved ones, it’s an opportunity to hear your dad in the background shouting obscenities at the other 7-year olds on the field. While you and your dad sit straight-backed on the couch saying nothing, you’ll get to enjoy the commentary track of his conversation with the father sitting next to him about your disappointing lack of athleticism.
2) UFC: Any fighting league match will do, but this option is short and sweet -- no sitting through 9 interminable innings. It’s easy to follow, and a perfect opportunity to sneak in some engaging conversation. A well-placed “oof,” “that must have hurt,” or “he has a mean right hook” will really make it seem like you’re paying attention and make this quality time seem more special.
3) A college game: It doesn’t really matter what sport you choose here. Pop on any spectator sport and bask in the nostalgia. Now, there’s an important choice to be made here -- which college? Your alma mater or your dad’s? Ideally, they’d be the same, but if you were close enough to go to the same school, you wouldn’t need advice on how to co-exist with your father for an hour and half, max.
4) Golf: Dads love golf, and its socially distanced nature means that you can watch the RBC Heritage Finals live on Father’s Day. The only downside is that you will also have to watch golf. Golf is slow and tournaments lack any natural stopping point, so he can’t get too mad at you when you pull out your phone and start scrolling through twitter, though his deep sadness will be palpable.
5) A championship game: Let your dad show you a cherished win and experience it all over again with him! Alternatively, the more toxic households can opt to stream dad’s team’s most devastating loss in an unparalleled act of passive aggression. Either way, you’ll get to toss in a cutesy line about watching “a big game on an important day” instead of addressing decades of emotional distance.
If your father still hasn't come back from getting "milk" that one time, ignore this entirely. Surely you're already sitting in an uncomfortable silence with your mother or a sibling.
