The X-Files Friday Feature: Sports

Yeah, sure, why not? We've seen enough references to Mulder being a sports fan, plus one entire episode that had a lot of baseball in it, so I might as well write a post on the subject.

I'm a pretty huge baseball fan. And as a fan of the Washington Nationals, I'm amused and a little disappointed that at the time this show was made, there was no team here, so they couldn't actually send Mulder to a game to, I don't know, investigate whether the players were using some kind of paranormal PEDs or something. (Wait, I know there's an episode coming up called 'Biogenesis', maybe that's what it's about? OK, I kind of doubt it.)

It's clear from a couple of things that there are sports fans among the writers and actors, particularly baseball fans. I mean, there's Scully, for one thing. Vin Scully is a phenomenal broadcaster and one of the last remaining old school ones. Interestingly, ESPN has former pitcher, Mark Mulder, doing commentary for some of the games they broadcast, which means if they ever covered a Dodgers game in Los Angeles, Mulder and Scully would both be there. (And if the Dodgers played the Astros, they could do an interview with one of their outfielders, Chris Carter.) This amuses me greatly, though I'm sure I'm not the only fan of both baseball and The X-Files who has noticed it.

The episode that focused on baseball (well, OK, it focused on race relations in the 1940s, but still centered around a baseball team and its players) was written by David Duchovny, who played baseball in college, so he kind of knows what he's doing when it comes to say, gripping the ball or throwing it or adorably teaching Scully how to hit a baseball.

One thing that makes little sense to me, though, and I'm sure I've mentioned it before, is why Mulder would be such a huge fan of New York sports teams. It makes perfect sense that David Duchovny would be, since he's from New York, but Mulder is from eastern Massachusetts. How would he not be a Red Sox and Celtics fan and hate the Yankees and Knicks? Though to be fair, he's never been the type to even try to fit in. Maybe his parents were New Yorkers and he just took after them, not caring what anyone else thought.

But Mulder's being a sports fan has come up multiple times throughout the series, almost always causing Scully to roll her eyes. Apparently she's not a sports fan, which I think is unfortunate, because it plays into a lot of the usual sexist stereotypes, but in this case, I'm just going to go with, she's always been kind of a nerd and maybe a bit of an academic elitist and saw sports as beneath her. Because that's far easier to stomach than, "She's a girl, and girls don't like sports."

I just don't think she's given the concept enough of a chance. And of course, the one time she's had the opportunity to join Mulder at a sporting event, their 'date' was derailed by a necrophiliac. (That is still one of the most disturbing episodes I've seen of this show.)

We've also seen Mulder shooting a basketball on a few occasions, and again, this relates to David Duchovny having actually played the sport, so not only does it seem very much in character, but it makes sense that he looks like he knows what he's doing. It's always weirder when a completely non-athletic actor has to look competent on a baseball field or a basketball court, because it doesn't always come off.

One of the other things I really enjoy about this and wish we'd see a little more from Scully on, is that this is just another aspect of Mulder as a person outside his work on the X-Files. What do we really know about Scully otherwise? She vacations in Maine, and she's really into Moby Dick? I like character elements outside the plots of the episodes, because they flesh out the characters as people. I know it's little inconsequential stuff, but it's definitely fun and definitely helps me enjoy the show on another level.

Plus, if I ever get around to writing X-Files fanfiction, those little tidbits will be useful.