Ink

Dear Kiss & Tell: What do you do when one person in a couple is on an amateur sports team? Is the other half obligated to go to all of the games? Or what if one person wants to watch sports all the time and it interferes with dating?

Pamela says: You don’t have to go to all the games. You have your own life and a lot of things to do with your friends, I hope. But as a doting boyfriend or girlfriend, you should probably go to most of the games and all the big ones, for sure.

If you hear a word such as “championship” (“the ship” for short — you’ll get bonus points if you recognize the lingo) or “playoff,” cancel plans. A relationship is not all about you. It’s about what’s important to the other person, too. You should support your partner. I’m not saying you have to pay attention the whole time. You can text or e-mail a little on the sly if you’re not a sports fan. But ask your partner what he or she wants. “Do you want me to be there for your games?” He or she might not even care.

If one person watches sports all the time, it can be annoying if you don’t like or care about sports. That’s me. Because Damon is a sports guy, he’ll have a different opinion.

You have to compromise. Sometimes you watch sports with your partner, and sometimes he or she watches what you want to watch. On Saturday, watch college football. On Sunday, watch “Desperate Housewives.” You can always drink beer during the game, flip through a magazine or do laundry if you’re not into it. You can also just make other plans and leave the other person alone with the TV.

For example, Novio loves UFC. One night a fight was on, and I went dancing with friends.

You might also surprise yourself. I wasn’t interested in UFC at first, but after watching it with him a few times, I got into it. A little. A lot of the guys are hot.

You could also make a sporting event a double date. Once, we met a couple of friends at a bar, and the guys watched the fight and the women talked the whole time. We all had fun.

See? Find things to make sports enjoyable and you’re OK.

Damon says: I can’t sugarcoat this. Most men watch and play sports (and in my generation, video games). If we don’t have other business to tend to, a lot of us prefer to do these things with our free time.

While the average female American television viewer is more apt to watch the fake-ality that is “The Real Housewives” or “Project Runway,” the average male viewer wants to tune in to the real drama of the Tom Brady/Peyton Manning rivalry unfolding on a Sunday night or play “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” until he beats the “campaign mode” at 2 a.m.

We have differences. The question is, are you willing to compromise and/or make do? Get out to a couple of your significant other’s rec-league basketball games or take him to Kauffman Stadium next spring to see American League Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke pitch. (That feels so good to type.)

He’ll appreciate you for it and should be willing to balance it out by watching you try on 10 dresses you won’t buy at the mall. Seriously, you should take sincere interest in some of your significant other’s major hobbies. It shows him/her that you care.

I had a girlfriend who would watch several hours of NFL football with me on Sunday afternoons. I also had one who made me watch “Golden Girls” reruns night after night instead of my beloved Royals while they were playing meaningful May baseball. I have a few fond memories of that first girl. The latter? She gave me a complex, and now I loathe the witty, elderly Sophia as well as that ex. Don’t be her.