Reminiscing the 90s! Athletes and Crushes

This week on Going Off Topic we are going back to the greatest decade, the 90s. I reached out to a few friends and family members who grew up during that time to cover a few categories: Music, Movies, TV Shows, Athletes, Toys, Stores, Video Games/Board Games and Crushes from the 90s. I gave them the reins to discuss each topic whether that meant things they remember from each category, things they had or loved, things they didn’t have but wish they did. I enlisted a few returning people but most are making their blogging debut. Each day we will be covering a new category with each person’s opinion on that topic. The seventh category for the Going Off Topic 90s week is Athletes and Crushes so dig up all the posters that used to cover the walls of your bedroom!

Kyle: 
I am a huge sports nut and this obsession definitely started at birth, I remember watching games and going to Cardinals game with my parents as a kid. I always had a ball in my hand and remember playing wiffle ball with my parents and grandma at her house while my parents were at work. Some of my favorite athletes from this time were Sammy Sosa (before I knew he cheated then he broke my heart and I became a full time Cards fan, Mark McGwire, The Greatest Show on Turf, MJ of course, Ken Griffey Jr, Dennis Rodman, T-Mac and Vinsanity. One point of interest can you imagine how good the Raptors could have been if they kept T-Mac and Vince? My goodness talk about one of the greatest sports “what-ifs”. I was also huge in wrestling, Sting was the shit.

There was only one crush for me in the 90s, the one and only Christina Aguilera. She was amazing and I still love her to this day.

Ellen:

The Magnificent Seven. They made history by winning the team gold medal in the 1996 Olympics and it was a big deal. Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug, Amy Chow, Jaycie Phelps and Amanda Borden. Kerri Strug’s sticking her second vault after literally destroying her ankle on her first vault! Iconic and so inspiring! It gets me every time when I watch that video. My mom used to yell “You can do it Kerri!” in a horrible Romanian accent whenever I was vaulting or doing any gymnastics at all. That moment is legendary.

My first big crushes that I can remember were Leonardo DiCaprio and Nick Carter. Oh my god, Nick Carter was swoon-worthy back in the 90s/early 2000s. My sister was also obsessed with BSB and Nick Carter so she told me that I had to like someone else and she literally said, “You can like Brian”. Now, I didn’t like Brian but I had to comply and pretend I did because I didn’t want to get on that chicks bad side. Looking back, Brian wasn’t bad looking and Nick Carter turned out to be trailer trash in an unfortunate turn of events. As for Leo… yeah I still have a mad celebrity crush on that man. His eyes are so beautiful and re-watching Titanic, Catch Me if You Can, or Romeo + Juliet is simply a treat. People say he isn’t aging well… maybe love has made me blind but I don’t see it. He’s still beautiful in my eyes.

Shannon:

I always had a crush on Lance Bass from NYSNC and then he came out as gay, and it broke my heart. 

Becca:

The only thing I really knew about sports back in the day I learned from movies, particularly Space Jam! I don’t think there is a person on earth who doesn’t know who Michael Jordan is... even though Lola Bunny clearly carried the Toon Squad to victory! My crushes were Jonathan Taylor Thomas or JTT and the other JT, Justin Timberlake. Weird they both have the same initials...

Reminiscing the 90s! Toys

This week on Going Off Topic we are going back to the greatest decade, the 90s. I reached out to a few friends and family members who grew up during that time to cover a few categories: Music, Movies, TV Shows, Athletes, Toys, Stores, Video Games/Board Games and Crushes from the 90s. I gave them the reins to discuss each topic whether that meant things they remember from each category, things they had or loved, things they didn’t have but wish they did. I enlisted a few returning people but most are making their blogging debut. Each day we will be covering a new category with each person’s opinion on that topic. The fifth category for the Going Off Topic 90s week is Toys so go up in your closet and grab all your Beanie Babies!

Kyle:
I never had a Furby as a kid but a lot of my friends did, it really was a hard time for me. Looking back though those things were creepy as hell. Beanie Babies were awesome and it was a special occasion whenever we got one as kids, they were fairly expensive which is funny to think about. Pokémon cards were great but I actually never even played the card game I just collected them. We had Sock ‘Em Boppers for a short time and I remember going to friends houses that had trampolines and we would box each other, which was probably dangerous but fun nonetheless. I still have my Pogs at my parent’s house and I still don’t know what the point of them was but they were cool to collect. Big Wheel’s were badass, my grandparents had a few of them and my cousins and I would race them around their neighborhood. I hope big wheel’s are still around.

Ellen:

Bop It was so fun! I remember playing that game all the time for like hours at a time. I also had Moon Shoes! They were my sisters and we would jump with those things all the time. I’m amazed I didn’t break a leg or ankle in those things, talk about dangerous! I’ve got a great idea, let’s make these honkin’ plastic platforms bouncy by adding some fucking giant rubber bands to them and then strap them to some kid’s feet! They were so fun though. Sky Dancers, now if you don’t remember these, here’s a little refresher. They were little Barbie Doll like things with wings and they attached to this handle that you pulled a string out of to make them spin and fly in the air. I begged my parents to buy me one and when I say begged I mean I was likely on my knees groveling. They ended up getting me one and I brought it home and took my Sky Dancer outside so she could get some serious air! My first pull of that damn string was cursed. She flew up into the sky and it was glorious but on the way down I realized in horror that her trajectory was taking her over my neighbor’s house. My Sky Dancer fell into my neighbors gutter. I had just begged my parents to get me one so there was not a snowballs chance in hell that I was about to tell them she was currently residing in my neighbor’s gutter. Fuck that noise. I did what any normal and well-adjusted child would do. Yes, I acted like nothing happened and never saw my Sky Dancer again, or so I thought. Flash-forward about 5 years and my dad is being generous and cleaning out our neighbor’s gutters (an elderly person lived there are needed some assistance) and FOUND THE FUCKING THING! We were reunited, she was nasty as fuck, and my dad didn’t even remember her. Moral of the story, kids are weird… or at least I was.

Shannon:

I wasn’t allowed to have Polly Pockets, but I had nearly every Barbie article of clothing imaginable. (Maybe not, she had a lot of clothes.) And when I got the Barbie train and the hotel, it was one of the best Christmases ever! I still have them, for keepsake. I don’t still have by Betty Spaghetti because someone (MOM) got rid of them all! Still mad about that, because she was awesome and I had all the cool ones and even had the Australian one with the green hair and the koala. Betty spaghetti was amazing. 

Becca:

Even though they are still very main stream still today Barbies are thing I remember most about growing up. I had a ton past down from my sisters and I would play with them everyday. Such a simple doll but you could make them anything you wanted to be which I loved. Barbies may have been the toy I remember most but when the Tamagotchi came out I HAD to have one! I never had a pet growing up so it was fun for me to have something to take care of everyday...you know until the next new thing came around, guess now I understand why I was never allowed to have a pet!