PTT: Water Cooler Sports Talk (Special Edition!)

Professional Tip Tuesday

Hello my fellow Optimistically Anna readers!

This is Anna's sports-loving and Optimistically Anna-loving boyfriend, Britt. I am honored to be a guest writer for this week's Professional Tip Tuesday.

I'm sure many of you are wondering, "Where is Optimistically Anna and why isn't she writing the PTT this week?" There are two reasons for Anna's "bye week" (sports reference - you should know what this means after reading and acting upon this blog post).

1. Anna is in Atlantic City on business (or so she tells me - I'm still convinced she's shooting craps and pulling slot handles, but we'll give her the benefit of the doubt since this is her blog after all). 
2. Anna is not as "sports-inclined" as I am. I would maybe use different verbiage, but that's her nice way of stating her lack of sports knowledge. And as you can tell by the title, this PTT is about sports knowledge and how it connects to the workplace! 

Let me begin with a scenario: 

You are walking back to your desk from lunch when you pass a co-worker who asks you, "what are you doing for the game tonight!?" Oblivious to any large sporting event happening that night, you respond, "What game?" Big mistake. Unbeknownst to you, your hometown team has a very important game that night - a game that could be a prime event for you to meet with your co-workers to watch. 

Well, fellow Optimistically Anna readers, this happened to our Optimistic friend several weeks ago. So hopefully this PTT will help you avoid embarrassing sports situations like that one.

General sports knowledge.
Next time you're at lunch with some bros that start talking about that awesome game last night, you won't feel uncomfortable or bored.

• When you get a chance to butt in, you can say, "I couldn't believe that James Shields had 11 strikeouts in 6 innings last night. His curve balls were buckling the knees of the White Sox players all night!" 
• Okay, so you don't need to pay attention to the games that closely, but knowing who James Shields is or what city the White Sox are from would be a good start. 

Regarding college sports. 

If your company is anything like mine, the employees have a lot of pride in their alma-mater. Flags of universities hang above desks, there is a donning of school colors on Fridays, and general smack talk about rival schools 

• A few beginner tips when it comes to college sports - know what conference the nearby universities compete in, who their largest rivals are, and which of your co-workers went to rival schools. 
• You find out a lot about a person based on how they react to smack talk. 

General rules of majors sports. 

I started my career a few months ago and I have already been to two different professional sporting events with co-workers. 

• Understanding the basics of live sports events will make you feel in-the-loop. You don't want to be that person asking, "Why are they punting?" When it's 4th-and-27. 
• If you're not up to the task of learning more complicated games like football, follow a tip from Anna - cheer when the crowd cheers, boo when the crowd boos, and enjoy some good people watching while you're a the game. Just kidding, Anna. :) Kind of. 

Participate in Fantasy Football and March Madness.

• These competitions provide an opportunity for you to have something in common with your co-workers. Maybe your boss isn't very personable, but he's a big fantasy football guy. Competing against him in a fantasy football league could help you have more frequent conversations with him. 
• Now you won't have to hide in your cubicle on Monday mornings as your neighbors talk about how their fantasy teams did. You can contribute to the conversation! The same goes for March Madness. **Pro tip: Knowing the major teams and star players will get you far in your departments annual bracket challenge.

So what's the next step?

-Go to www.espn.com and research your home teams! Check out their win-loss record for the current and past season. Learn the names of their best players. It's never to early to start preparing for fantasy football or march madness. 

I hope those of you who don't associate as being "sports-inclined" found this post to be insightful. Maybe I'll guest write again sometime if Anna heads to Vegas for another 'business trip'. 

What school is your favorite to talk smack about to co-workers? Any good stories about fantasy football or March Madness? Comment below!