I've been dating the "sports guy" for over a year now and I have developed some tricks to understanding them. I wasn't that big of a sports fan before our relationship. I would watch games every once and while, but it wasn't anything dramatic. It is kind of daunting at first to date someone that is that in love with sports because you aren't, but after a while, it becomes second nature.

Try your hardest when learning the sport.

No one is expecting anyone to know the entire team's history and championships and who owned the team in 1978, but effort is key. Taking ten minutes to know the starting players of your significant other's favorite team is enough to start. After being forced to watch every game, big and small, you tend to pick up on the finer details. It is always a great time when you understand something he says in relation to the sport.

Take an interest, even if it is small.

I'm not saying that you have to become the world's biggest sports fan, but even just knowing when the games are can go a long way. It's the little things that count the most.

Root for his favorite team, it makes life easier.

Sometimes, trying to like another team is just not going to cut it. So when you are around him, play nice and support his favorite team, but when you aren't around him, go crazy for yours. It will prevent any fights from possibly happening. But if your favorite team and his favorite team play each other, all bets are off.

It's okay to ask questions, even dumb ones.

Just make sure that it is not during the game. Commercials are the perfect time for an interrogation session. Most people love to share what they are passionate for, so if you ask questions at appropriate times, they would love to share their knowledge with you.

He will get mad, just let him rant.

Sports are a very frustrating thing (especially when you are from Cleveland). Your sports guy will get angry at his team, it is inevitable. The best thing to do is just let them go on their rant about what the team did wrong and why he hates them in this moment in time and how all hope is lost. Trying to rationalize with him will be futile. If the rant is going to happen, it is going to happen regardless of what you say. My advice: sit back and listen until he tires himself out.

He is bound to be extremely passionate during games, don't let it scare you.

This goes along with the point about ranting. Yelling is very common during games and pretty much doesn't stop until halftime or commercials. Every play, every possession, every call, something is happening. The gif is actually of my boyfriend during Game 6 of the NBA Finals (the Cleveland Cavaliers vs the Golden State Warriors). This is just one of the countless times that he ran around the room because of the Cavs. You may not be used to all the yelling, but it does make for a fantastic SnapChat story.

If you don't already follow his favorite sport, you will most likely have the same opinions as him.

This is all okay. Someone might bother you that you are a bandwagon fan because of your significant other, but that's fine, BECAUSE YOU ARE. There is nothing wrong with being a bandwagon fan for the sake of your relationship and those who are getting salty because you are, are just hateful. Ignore them. The information that you are getting is most likely, very VERY biased, so it is only natural that you share opinions. And besides, you don't have to research anything if you take the same side as him.

There will be times when he loves a player more than you.

Yeah, this will continuously happen throughout the season depending on how well the teams are playing. He may spend all of his time loving a player, but he always comes back to you.

There will be periods of time when he disappears off the face of the earth.

No, don't call 911 to report a missing person. A big game is probably on or he is at a game. Yes, it is super annoying that he can update his snapchat story or tweet about what's going on, but not text you back, but it is going to happen anyway. The best you can do is just wait it out the best you can. The game has to end sometime.

You will get taken to sporting events.

It doesn't matter if you like the team or not, he will get you both tickets to go see his favorite team and you will like it. Sporting events are actually incredibly fun because everyone is super pumped to be there and the energy of the venue is off the charts. You may not want to go, but you'll be happy that you went. Also, your significant other will act totally different. It's like when he is at a game, he reaches his final form and evolves into someone that is jumping and screaming and just being a fanatic. It is quite interesting to watch.

He will most likely get into fights about sports with your friends. Don't pick sides.

Okay, so my boyfriend is a huge University of North Carolina fan and one of my best friends is a huge Duke University fan. For those who don't know, they are ultimate rivals in the world of college basketball. Twitter fights and in person fights happened on the regular during basketball season. The best thing to do is to not get in the middle. Just let them duke it out for a while and then divert attention. Your friend and significant other will most likely tire themselves eventually, so it's just a waiting game.

When the season ends, there is suddenly more time that you can spend together.

This is great because without the constant games on and players to watch, that just means that your significant other has more time to spend on you and who doesn't love that.

Even through the torture of a season, you still love him and his crazy ways.

You have survived the season. You are now a seasoned vet, eager to lend a helping hand to anyone who gets scared by the passionate rants and constant ESPN. We have sat through game after game, missed dates to watch a Finals game, and listened to the constant curse words and rants that occur after an embarrassing lost. You are officially the MVG (Most Valuable Girlfriend) of the season, so what are you going to do now? Go to Disney World? Nope. Watch press coverage of your significant other's favorite team as they get ready for next season. Through all of the sports mania, you still love your sports-obsessed guy as much as he loves his sport.