SportsRefuge Editorials

Why I Love Sports

“I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures” - Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Sports. For many (including myself) they can be the determining factor in how our day goes. If the Steelers lose, stay clear of me for a good 1-2 hours or risk having your head ripped off. In many cases us as fans take winning and losing harder than the players on the actual team. Non-sports fans just don’t understand why we sports fans take a “game” so seriously. To be perfectly honest, I have no idea why we take them so serious, we just do. There aremuch more important things in life. Yet, sports are important. They are a uniting factor in a world sorely lacking of them. Over the weekend, I have the privilege to go to Yankee Stadium for the first time for Yanks-Sox. From the time the gates opened until the final out the Yankee fans and Red Sox fans went back and forth. One minute its “Lets go Yan-Kees. *clap, clap-clap ,clap, clap*”, the next its “Lets go Red Sox. *clap, clap-clap, clap, clap*” followed by loud boos throughout the stadium. It was two long time enemy fanbases waging verbal war while their teams played on the field. Yet, when the 7th inning stretch came and the music began for “God Bless America”, it was a stadium united. Family members were holding hands. Men took their caps off and sang with pride and emotion. Players of both teams stood on the field to sing the words. For those few minutes, it didn’t matter who your allegiance was to, or what jersey you were wearing. We were Americans. United. Proud. Honoring not only the 232nd birthday of our country, but the 3,000 lives lost almost 7 years ago. Sports do that for us. During those weeks after 9-11 when we needed answers, when we needed solace, when we need an outlet, it was sports that brought us together. In stadiums, arenas, and fields across America, we stood with one voice and said to all who oppose us, that you can hurt us, but you cannot stop us. WE. ARE. ONE. The passion we feel when an Olympic athlete cries as his nations anthem is played and their flag is raised, gives us goosebumps, or when a player of a team wins a championship after years of failure, we feel for them rather we’re a fan of that team or not. When our team loses a heartbreaker, we feel pain rivaling that of hard breakup. Sports can speak for us and speak of us. They bring us together as families, as regions, and even as nations, and I can’t get enough.