Choosing my religion

I want to get into something way more in-depth regarding sports than what I'm about to talk about, but I do just want to mention one thing first. Sports is very much like religion. In my freshman year GenEd Religious Studies class, we actually looked at how the Red Sox could be considered a religion. Here's my argument for the parallel between sports and religion:

I grew up going to church every Sunday. Not because I wanted to, but because my parents woke me up at 9:15 and told me to get ready for church. I obliged in fear of being disobedient. By the time high school rolled around, and we had practices, homework, and other activities on Sunday, we didn't go to church nearly as much. For a few years now, we've been an Easter/Christmas Eve family. Now that I'm able to make my own decisions about religion and what it means to me, I'm not forced into anything regarding religion. My parents trust that whatever I believe is what I want to believe, and they won't get in the way.

How are sports any different? Most of us, myself included, liking a particular sports team because of two things - location and family. Having lived near Boston my entire life, and having passionate Boston sports fans as parents, it was destined that I would love the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, and Patriots. I still do. But only now am I starting to realize that I don't have to. I'm intelligent enough about sports to know what makes me want to root for certain teams (in baseball, it's good, young pitching, smart baserunning/fielding, and a solid lineup). At this point in my sports-watching career, who's to tell me I still have to like the Red Sox? (Editor's Note: If you can't tell, I've been at an internal crisis with myself for the entire season with the Red Sox on how much I actually like this team.) I'm not saying I dislike the Red Sox. I still do. I promise. There is still no better feeling in the sports world to walk into Fenway and see the sun shining on the grass, bleachers, and entire park. There are few better feelings at all in life.

All I'm saying is, if we're old enough and smart enough to choose our religion, why can't we choose our sports, as well?

(Editor's Note: Also excuse the R.E.M. reference in the post title. It was too good to pass up, even if this post is about sports.)