After work tonight, I'm going to hang out with my best friend, play some video games and a little basketball in a rec league.

It'll be the first time I've done that since I got married in August. It's hard to find time for your friends, family and the things you used to do by yourself, because, well, you're not by yourself anymore.

I've heard people say marriage kills...your Sports life. Not true, you've just got to know how to keep that "Sports Relationship" healthy.

But I've gotten my Sports fix; I've been a fan. I've been in a glass case of emotions, broken up with a childhood team (see "A Fan Breaks Up" below), and found someone new (the Clippers, the Lakers uglier step-sister).

True, you can't spend as much time watching, reading and eating Sports as you used to-but you can make it work.

Before I met my wife, I was 23 year old college student, living by myself in my apartment with no job because I was on an academic grant of sorts. It was the first time I didn't even have a part time job to occupy my time. So for months on end, what do you think I did?

That's right, I watched Sports Center a minimum of four times a day, subscribed to ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated and the local newspaper. I checked Fox Sports.com, ESPN.com and SI.com nearly daily to get a different take on everything. I slept from about 2 am until 10 am everyday because there was nothing going on (and because I was enjoying the scheduling perks of college upperclassmen).

Then it happened, right after my beloved Red Sox lost to the Yankees in the 2003 ALCS. I started dating my wife.

I was so heartbroken over the Red Sox loss I had vowed to take some time apart from Sports, to get my head right.

But in walked this girl and Sports took a huge backseat. In that backseat, Sports started sitting next to my future wife's two year old son. 

Over the course of a few months, I was down to catching the 1 am Sports Center for the first time that day because I was just returned from spending the day with my wife at my future in-laws house.

I wasn't as "In-The-Know" as I should have been. I wasn't as upset that winter at the A-Rod/Yankees affair behind the Red Sox back. I'm not even sure if I knew for a few days. Yes, there were moments when I started wondering where my Sports had gone-especially in the NCAA Tournament, the NBA Playoffs and Baseball's Opening Day.

Then it hit me that I had to find a way to be able to sustain the two most important things in my life, the first being my love life, the second being my Sports life. Kind of like Relationship George and Indepedent George in that classic Seinfeld episode.

I've got a list that just might help-and you'll need it, whether you're married or dating or single. Trust me.

 1)     Always go to bed a little earlier than normal to catch (insert your favorite TV Sports highlight show) before actually going to sleep. (Especially helpful if you have children, extra incentive to get them to sleep by, oh, 8p.m.)

2)     Know you're "Must Watch" games in advance, so you can claim the TiVO or VCR, or secure time to watch said game. If you don't, and you spring a game on your spouse the day of the event, you'll have a great time watching the game on the TV, in the bar at a restaurant, during a dinner with friends or your family that you knew nothing about. I speak from experience.

3)     Make sure you establish to your significant other what your favorite teams are in each sport, that way when you turn on a game with one of those teams, you won't receive that "Why do we have to watch this game, you don't even like these teams" Face. Make a note; stick it on the refrigerator to remind them.

4)     There are certain days Sports must be watched, and this should be known. Kind of like a marriage covenant. Thanksgiving, Christmas Day (at least at some point during the day), New Year's Day, and of course, the final and deciding game of any Championship.

5)     Let said spouse/fianc