For the Love of the Game

How to stay in sacred community… even during an election year

I grew up in a football town. In Buffalo, New York the mid 90s were time to learn about holding your head high, as the Bills went to — and lost — the Super Bowl four consecutive times. You would think that us Buffalonians would harbor resentment for the teams who beat us, like the Dallas Cowboys who did so not once, but twice.

Instead, Bills fans everywhere hold their grudge against another team: the Miami Dolphins. No one, not even the internet, can give a solid answer on where or why the rivalry began. Regardless, I have vivid memories of writing messages like ‘squish the fish’ on the blackboard in elementary school the week before a big game. Looking back, I wonder why the teacher didn’t stop the vitriol spewing from our grade-school mouths. Instead, the rivalry — and team pride — was encouraged.

To love the Bills and hate the Dolphins was as natural for a kid in Buffalo as shoveling the driveway after a heavy snow.

Some say that this kind of deeply rooted sports rivalry is healthy. Writer Jonathan Gault explains,

“Sports hate is a good thing. You can channel your anger and aggression from the rest of your life into three hours of yelling at an opposing player and when you’re done, you feel better about yourself. Sports as catharsis works.”[1]

Being a sports fan allows us to safely experience the highs and lows of human emotion. It is an opportunity to feel the most passionate…