When I was a kid I used to buy me collector cards w. American Football and baseball, it was expensive as hell, so I could only afford like one pack a month and had to save for it, knew shit about American Football or baseball (and still do) but it was cool since it was 1990 - 91 and I had something else "American" in my room (besides an old Colt replica, a couple Matchbox Pontiacs and Peterbilts and a collection of vintage empty US cigarette packages)
At least I still remember the teams names so I'm not completely lost in conversation.
NHL is a different story, was an NHL freak for years, most extreme display of this was probably when me and my buddy got NHL 99 game after like two years from its release and spent about 18 hours trading and adjusting all the roosters so it was 2001 current.