New York Sports Report

     “Write about sports?” they’ll ask. “Why don’t you try to get an important job like a doctor or teacher or lawyer?”  They don’t understand.  To them it is just a game, but to others it is so much more.  Ask Michael Strahan if he just plays a game, after waiting 15 years to be called “Champion.”  Or better yet ask Junior Seau, who has waited 18 years and been second place twice but never won the big one, if he plays a game.  To them this is more than a game, it is their life, it is their connection to millions of people across the country and the world.  To fans, real die-hard fans, it is a chance to be a part of something special without ever stepping onto the field.

     Families do not bond over an 8^th grade lesson plan or over a victory in civil court for a few thousand dollars.  They do not embrace and come to tears when a doctor performs a surgery.  They do these things when their team finally breaks through and takes home a championship.  A father will look at his child, watching the final game with him, living and dying with every snap of that football and know that this child, that is following every play with the scrutiny only the best lawyers in the world can match, is doing so because of him.  The father will know that this child is relishing this game because of the traditions he instilled.  

     We support our teams through good times and bad.  Even in the worst of times we are there suffering along with our teams.  When they put out a 4-12 season we curse and yell because we feel like a part of it, but we never abandon.  We boo, we jeer, and we demand effort from every player on every play regardless of the circumstances.  More than anything we demand results.  These tough times though, no matter how painful, make the victories that much sweeter.

     There are few greater feelings a person can have than to watch a long suffering franchise break through for a world championship knowing that through every step, through every loss, through every terrible draft pick, you never left.  You never stopped rooting and never stopped caring.  The reward for that effort is a piece of each playoff win and culminates in a piece of the championship.  This is what sports is all about, this is why we watch.  This is why we are fans, short for fanatics, of our favorite teams.

     So why aren’t sports important?  When 97 million people across the planet tune in to watch one event, it is important.  Sports do not save lives the way a doctor might, and they do not keep a person out of prison the way a lawyer would, but they change lives all the same.  Any fan of the New York Giants right now has had his or her life changed by the events of this season.  This may not seem rational, it may not make a lot of sense to outsiders who do not follow a team religiously, but that does not make it any less true.  Sports, and in particular certain teams during specific seasons, can change a person.  It can make a person cry in joy, or weep in sadness.  They can make a fan scream with jubilation or curse with detest.  In the end we are fanatics, for better or worse. 

     An important job?  Absolutely.  So I’ll say thank you for your opinion, but what I’m doing is plenty important.

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