I've spent two semesters sitting behind my computer screen, nitpicking the problems I've had with the sports world. Sometimes it was a player's action, a fan's reaction, a rule or the myriad of other things that happened. However, while I spent all that time exposing the bad, I let slide the good just as the nature of my column.
Without further ado, let's admire some of the things that sports do right and what keeps us coming back for more, even after our team loses in the playoffs - or doesn't even make it - and we swear to ourselves that we're never watching another game again.
Excitement
There's something intangible about sports: You can't quite put your finger on it but you know it's there. The clock is winding down in the fourth quarter. A batter steps up in the bottom of the ninth. As a fan, you're sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for "it" to happen. Sometimes, you don't know what "it" is.
"It" could happen when we least expect it, such as a perfect game on a lazy July afternoon, while other times we were just waiting for "it" to unfold. The adrenaline rush of a buzzer beater or walk-off homerun just isn't something that can be found anywhere else.
Unity
Teams have the ability to unite a group of people who may otherwise not have found a common ground. It may be at a college football game where upwards of 100,000 fans will come out Saturday afternoons to support their favorite team. It gives them a chance to share experiences with friends or even strangers. Additionally, sports give a community something to rally around in a time of need. The New Orleans Saints provided the community one of their most memorable moments in the inaugural game at the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. As recently as this past week, the Boston Red Sox provided fans the same opportunity when they took the field against the Kansas City Royals.
Entertainment
Just like your favorite TV show or movie, sports are a form of entertainment. On NFL Sundays we sit in front our televisions watching the day's events unfold. We watch in the hopes of being entertained. Sports will evoke emotions from us in a two- to three- hour timeframe similar to that of an exciting movie or best-selling book.
At kickoff, there is the eagerness and anticipation of what is to come, just as when a movie is starting. In the middle, there's a mix of emotions present. Your team blows a coverage downfield giving up an easy score, which makes you frustrated and angry. However, the returner takes the kickoff to the house on the very next play, hiking your emotions back up above the start of the game. This roller coaster of emotions is what makes sports a unique form of entertainment. It blends and mixes all these emotions into one compact three-hour time slot, and then does it again and again.
This is just a small sample of what makes sports magical. There's the David-versus-Goliath stories, the playoff atmospheres, the players that blossom into superstars before our very eyes and more. There are the athletes like Mike Trout who burst onto the scene last spring, capturing the attention and awe of baseball fans around the country through a combination of speed and acrobatic catches. Meanwhile, we were able to track the progress of someone like Bryce Harper from his appearance on Sports Illustrated to his first Major League Baseball at-bat.
The possibilities are endless, but the message is clear: Sports are here to stay. For those of us who love the games, that is a powerful message indeed.
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Jordan Bean is a freshman who has yet to declare a major. He can be reached at Jordan.Bean@tufts.edu.
