From today’s b, the paper

I don’t really remember how technology came into my life as a sports fan, but I know that it’s all gone wrong lately.

As much as I love texting on my phone, it’s become quite a problem during the evening hours. My friends and I used to just call each other to discuss games, usually minutes after something game-changing had happened. It would always begin with the same question: “Hey, are you watching the game?”

But now, with the advent of a simple two-word text, my friends are ruining my sports life. The reason? The dreaded DVR!

I don’t know how sports is watched in the privacy of your world, but in my condo, I’m almost constantly in delay. Why watch the same stupid MASN commercials night after night, right? Why sit through the “between periods” crap during hockey games?

There are beer runs, bathroom stops, phone calls, e-mails, food breaks — all sorts of interruptions and necessities that previously were taken care of during commercial breaks. Now, I just hit “pause” whenever I damned well please and zip through the commercials until I catch up.

And that’s if I catch up …

I’ve gotten into the habit of being “a little behind” most nights without a hint of guilt. Heck, Monday Night Football at my place has turned into “Second Half Tuesday Morning Football” from September through January thanks to the “record” button. (By the way, coffee and football go nicely together to begin the day.)

Inevitably — and a lot lately — someone will send me a “game update” when I’m an inning behind or a few minutes delayed, completely wrecking the result for me.

Are you a perpetrator of this most heinous sports act? If you are, maybe my “plea to stop spoiling” column today will make you think twice before you text your pals during the game.

On Tuesday, I was chastised by a listener to my radio station because we texted out the result of the Johns Hopkins lacrosse game on Monday in our text service without a “spoiler alert.” He was at the Orioles game, and I literally wrecked his afternoon with one sentence.

I love sports. I love technology. But this is one case when the etiquette has yet to be determined in an ever-changing landscape that mixes the creature comforts of 2008 with the reality of “not wanting to know.”

Sometimes, the best texts are the ones never sent.

Nestor Aparicio, owner of WNST-AM 1570, writes about sports and more. His column appears Mondays and Fridays. For more, go to wnst.net.

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