In Defense of Organized Sports
…coming from a VERY unathletic person, mind you
Last week was weird for me. I won’t get into it, but…let’s just say it was a good thing it was my off week from OTF. I’m not sure I could’ve sorted my brain out enough to write a coherent piece!
That being said, I’m not super confident I can do that right now either, but we’ll give it a go. I’ve got Super Bowl LV on in the background, and I couldn’t help but find myself appreciating the distraction that it brings. I spent most of my evening putting together a totally unnecessary Super Bowl Sunday “meal” for two. There was bickering, there was flour everywhere, and the end results were decent at best. But you know what? For those few hours, my biggest concern was whether ANY amount of flour would be enough to de-sticky-fy my pretzel dough. (If you were wondering, the pretzels came out tasting pretty good, but looking a mess).
I may have never been able to develop a genuine love of football (despite being a native Texan), but there’s something about sporting events that I really appreciate. I feel like the “cool” thing for educated Millennials to do is to more or less shit on pro sports, college sports, and other forms of organized sports. I just can’t get on board with that, though. I’ll never forget the wonder I felt watching Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming tear it up for the Rockets alongside my middle school band; the excitement I experienced as a member of the student section at nearly every St. John’s home basketball game between 2013–2017; the unbridled joy that overcame me as I watched the Astros win the 2017 World Series in game 7. That last one didn’t age super well (what with that pesky cheating scandal), but it’s a happy memory for me regardless.
You see, I’m not really any good at sports. Never was, never will be — and I’m content with that. I’m also not all that well versed on the ins and outs of most sports. Even still, I’m able to find joy in them, and even more so, I’m able to appreciate the joy they bring so many other people. Our teams bring communities together, give us something to talk about with our neighbors, and give us something to hope for. It’s so easy to say that sports are a distraction, they’re frivolous, etc. But the impact the 2017 World Series had on the people of Houston, for example, should NOT be downplayed. If you’re not super familiar with Houston sports, well…our major victories are few and far between. 2017 was also the year of Hurricane Harvey, which just absolutely devastated the city of Houston. Yes, it may be easy for people who aren’t Astros fans to write off that World Series win due to the cheating scandal, but I see it differently. The team may have cheated, but the city deserved that victory. The people needed something good, and the World Series brought them that.
These probably aren’t even remotely original thoughts that I’ve shared today, but I think the sentiment behind them is important. When you’re finally able to (and comfortable with it), I encourage you to go to some kind of live sporting event. It doesn’t have to be a pricey ass NFL game; check out a AAA baseball game, your local college’s soccer game, or maybe even some kind of community event (just maybe don’t go to a children’s sporting event unless you’ve got a kid in the game). At the very least, don’t drag people for caring about something as “trivial” as a sports team. You have no idea what that team might actually mean for them.
Originally published on February 8, 2021
