Why sports?

It just cannot be explained in words, you need to feel that!

Phil Knight in Shoe dog perfectly capture the essence of the love of sports - “Like books, sports give people a sense of having lived other lives, of taking part in other people’s victories. And defeats. When sports are at their best, the spirit of the fan merges with the spirit of the athletes, ad in that convergence, in that transference is the oneness that the mystic talk about. “

 In Argentina, a “weary nation” was able to find “rare joy” in the achievements of its beloved World Cup team. In Spain, with its economic problems and Catalan secessionist rumblings

Who can deny the excitement sports give the world? Thousands of fans flock to stadiums and arenas while millions join them on TV all waiting in excitement to do anything from scream their lungs out, to criticizing the players’ mom, to painting their chests in sub-zero weather. 

That special sports memory that will stick with you the rest of your life.  Everyone has one story. Buzzer beaters.  Last second TD’s. Walk-offs. It could be personal or something you watched, but every avid sports fan knows what I’m talking about.

No matter what mood you are in, if that clip graces the screen, it brings you back to that moment of elation.  If sports can help cheer you up or give you something good to look back on just for a second, I think that’s important.

There is no single answer to why people watch sports, because the answer doesn’t lie in the game, it lies inside the individual. So it’s complicated in the same ways all our relationships are complicated. Even on the rare occasions when sportswriters do attempt to push beyond the platitudes, it is difficult to squeeze an answer into a single narrative.

Part of what makes sports great is the tradition.  There’s nothing better than hearing that fight song, or doing that special cheer that makes your team unique.

There’s also something to be said about the family tradition of sports.  Generations’ cheer for the same team and it brings them closer together.  That’s important.

Sport is like music or fiction or film, in that, for a predetermined duration, it asks you to give it control over your emotions, to feel what it makes you feel.