It’s easy to be cynical about sports. You look at rape-y punter in Buffalo and rape-y qbs that have peppered the AFC North (past and present) and it really is easy to think sports is complete shit. And don’t get me started on taxpayer funded stadiums.
Spend that money on schools, you dumb twats.
But that is not the totality of sports.
Sports is also art. Go youtube Barry Sanders running if you don’t believe me. I’ve seen the Moscow Ballet and it was almost as beautiful as what Barry did. Watch Michael Jordan fly.
Sports begins sea changes. When Jackie Robinson stepped onto a Major League Baseball field it was a step towards a sea change. Serena Williams played her last match at the U.S. Open the other day and she was the cresting wave of that sea.
Sports is also a father taking his sons to their first football game. A mother teaching her son why Bernie Kosar was the greatest to never win a Superb Owl. It keeps siblings close. It turns friends into family.
Hell, I even love that it gives me a bad guy to hate (looking at you Max Verstappen).
And it also restores my faith in humanity. When George Russell jumped out of his car and ran to help Zhou Guanyu I caught myself feeling an immense sense of pride in that young man. When Colin took a knee and would not be moved I was blown away by the strength of character.
But mostly, for me, sports is always a thing that brings me back to my dad. Yeah, it really is that simple. If the Dodgers are playing I just feel closer to him. The divide between this life and whatever happens after is suddenly not so vast.
And lately, when my wife is gone and the Buckeyes are on I turn on the game and the wait for her return is a little more bearable.
So yeah, go sports go!
