I believe in the power of sports.
I believe that sports have the power to bring worlds together. I believe that a sport has the power to stop a war like it did during the 2006 World Cup in Serbia and Montenegro, when the country was in turmoil. Civil war had broken loose, but when the country received word that they will be playing the World Cup, the war stopped (at least for that month).
I believe that it brings complete strangers together to one arena for one common goal: cheer your team on.
Sports is real—you can’t fake your way in—there is no “back door.” If you are Julia Roberts' daughter, and you want to be an actress, you will be an actress. If you are Bristol Palin, and you want to be in politics, because of your mother, you will. Because of your family's last name, you have the opportunity to be anything...but not in sports.
Just because your name is Marcus Jordan and you are the son of the great Michael Jordan, it does not mean you will be in the NBA. Jose and Ozzie Canseco are twins, they both played in the MLB, Jose played 1,887 games in the show, Ozzie only played 24. Just because you are related to someone famous, it doesn’t make you that person.
There is compassion in sports. The strong and powerful take care of the small and weak. I read on ESPN the Magazine a while back, about this high school football team from Illinois. The team was losing, and the star player broke free from the tackles and had nothing but open grass for him to run and score the touchdown. But, when he got to the one-yard line, he stepped out of bounds. The reason? He and the rest of his teammates wanted to give a chance to their autistic teammate to score the only touchdown of his life. When was the last time you saw that on Wall Street?
As Rick Reilly said, sports is Oprah for guys. Reilly told readers about a story about a son and a dad that had not talked for years because of something that happened between them, but as soon as the Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, the son went home, hugged the dad and they both laughed and talked all night about the game. Again folks, only in sports will you see this.
Sports is about three things: loyalty, love and family. You are a Celtics fan because Grandpa Joe was a Celtics fan, and he instilled that love for the Celtics in your father, James, which in turn was handed to you. No matter what anyone says, you are forever going to be a Boston Celtics fan no matter if they win or lose.
I understand that sports isn’t for everyone, but to act as if sports is not part of society would be an ignorant statement. Sports isn’t a tool one can use to “get away” from their life, but rather it's a part of that fabric we call life.
No matter who you are, sports are the great equalizer.
Whether you are rich or poor, black or white, yellow or brown, sports bring you together. Once you step foot in a stadium, it doesn’t matter if you are doctor or if you are a janitor, we are all equal in one common goal, cheer on your team. The pure joy from a kid in his first baseball game, the raw emotion of an adult when their team makes an amazing play are what makes me believe that sports are the great equalizer.
