So..you're probably asking..why does it then? The short answer might seem obvious: sports is entertaining and provides a distraction from my "real life". Actually sport inspires me. In spite of the corruption, cheating and scandal so prevalent in today's headlines, athletes continue to demonstrate the fundamental nature of competition by giving us the strongest, the quickest, the smartest and most inspired performances on the planet. Their world is populated with people who strive for excellence. Being in the presence of such people makes me lift my sights a little higher...encourages me to loftier standards in my everyday life.
Sport touches the depths of my emotion. As a Minnesota Viking fan, I carry a permanent scar on my heart from 'The Meltdown' loss to the Falcons in the NFC Championship game in 1999. That loss ranks close to 'the loss of a close friend' on my emotional scale. What is it about my soul that seems to yearn for the extreme?
Sport lets me believe in the impossible. "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" It doesn't happen often enough but every now and then, just about the time we are ready to succumb to the predictable, to the inevitable...Wham! Young David rises up to defeat the giant - whether David is Boise State or some other underdog. It's this aspect of sport that can, at any time, any place, stir the little kid in me to ask "why not?"
Sport provides the element of danger. I'm able to substitute the danger in my life and instead live my danger through the athletes I root for. Being a world-class athlete can be risky business. Think of it. An athlete's whole focus has been to go faster, higher, stronger. Sometimes, as in NASCAR, in order to get an edge, a driver must go over the edge. Too many times I've watched in sadness and horror as the driver crossed the line from order to chaos, control to helplessness. Yes..7 years later..I still miss Dale Earnhardt and become visibly upset when he is talked about on TV.
Sport can give me a place in history. I have been lucky enough to have witnessed historic sporting events. Most have been on TV, but I can still lay claim to being a part of that history. I was there, receiving and contributing to the collective energy at the precise moment history was made. It's something that will stay with me and whoever is around me that has to hear about it later. (Sorry friends and family!!)
Sport validates my competitive nature. Some would argue that the competitive urges in me is aggression which should be kept inside me. I'm convinced my competitive nature is God-given. I've been reading the Bible in the last few months and I came across a scripture that I loved and immediately thought about my love for sports. The apostle Paul, in scripture describes the spiritual journey to a vigorous race: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." And again Paul reminds us: "But one thing I do. Forgetting what is behind and straining for what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize..." I believe any person, gifted with athletic (or any other) talent, who does not pursue his maximum potential misses the mark.
I realize that sport impacts me at every level of my being: body, mind, soul and spirit. Is it any wonder I'm so fascinated by it? For me, the world of sport is right up there beneath God, family and country. Perhaps I wrote this simply to attempt to justify my own obsession - as if I needed to list reasons for feelings that come naturally. But then I think of thousands standing in line for hours to get tickets for a game that lasts 48 minutes. Or bleachers collapsing under foot-stomping fans enraged over a bad call. Or a guy jumping over a 15 foot wall to touch the star player. It's then that I realize one thing...
That I'm not alone.
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