As I sat in my house this weekend watching the College Football Championship with friends I couldn’t help but sit and think how lucky I am to have sports. A lot of things were flooding the minds and attentions of the people this weekend we had NFL playoff football, NBA Basketball in full swing and the college football season coming to an outstanding close. This weekend was full of incredible moments that touchdown with one second left on the clock to give Clemson the title, or the “Hail Mary” touchdown pass by Aaron Rodgers.
Come Monday though a story that was being talked about, that happened at the little event called the Golden Globes as acclaimed actress Meryl Streep talked about political views and in a dig at President Elect Trump she quietly attacked MMA and Football saying they weren’t “art.” It’s a popular thing among some circles to make fun
As we watched the Championship game of Alabama vs Clemson you could see in those die-hard fans eyes what this game meant to them. Even to most of the people in my house who had no allegiance to either team, we felt the excitement of each play. People can make fun of sports and say of it’s a thing for kids or for dumb jocks, or pros are grown men playing a game. “How can you possibly care about a game?” The thing I have to say to that is sports is real and the emotions are real the agony of defeat and that sense of euphoria when your chosen team wins. You can feel the change of momentum in a game, when a team gets a steal o interception. Each play has a chance to change the story in this movie that is the game.
These “games” mean something to the millions of sports fans around the world. No movie can ever give you the same rush and energy you feel watching a special moment in sports. Tell those Cavs fans who suffered years of humiliation being a Cleveland sports fan that when they saw the block LeBron James performed they didn’t feel that in their chest, or When most of America Cheered on the Chicago Cubs to win their first world series in over a hundred years.
Sports does an amazing thing it unifies us, it creates a bond unlike anything else. That moment as a child when you choose who your team will be. Do you choose your “hometown” team, Is it the jerseys, your family’s team or do you pick a team for their star player? Whatever drives you to that it’s an important moment in a young sports fans life. When you finally pick you are joining that bond. You will always have that little connection to a random stranger rocking that Red Sox hat or that Broncos flag on their car. It’s an un spoken connection, you can say you in some way know that person because they have been through the crushing losses and incredible wins with you.
Sports may not be “civilized” or the most “adult” thing but what it does is it allows people to come together and show passion for something. Sports Means something to me, It is my passion it’s what has driven me and hopefully will employ me one day. My passion is talking about and watching sports I love the inside and out of sports even down to what it takes to build a team around a goal to win a championship. Sports promotes team work, confidence, hard work, consistency, and it promotes going after your dreams.
The fun I have making jabs at my friends who are Boston fans because I Hate all sports teams from Boston, or my old roommate being a Chiefs fan who are the rivals to my beloved Denver Broncos. Sports has caused me to form relationships and caused me to get in heated arguments but at the end of the day we all respect that we loves sports and our teams.
I challenge anyone who agrees with Streep’s comments or makes fun of sports to sit down and watch a game and not see the passion and emotion in those players and fans.
I love sports and I want to say thank you because I am grateful to have sports in my life.
