Impossible is Something

We all long to see the unbelievable. Does any medium provide more unbelievable moments than does sport?
Impossible is nothing is the current ad campaign of Adidias (I think). But I have to disagree, Impossible is quite the opposite. Don't be confused and believe that I think only Sports provides amazing moments, but I do think it provides the most. When I think amazing, I see Kirk Gibson hitting a game winning homerun on two bad knees. I see the Cal-Stanford play, the "Miracle on Ice." I see the Bluegrass Miracle, the Miracle at Michigan, the Music City Miracle, and so many others. But why does it reach us in that way. Why does Warren Spahn's homerun (bottom of the ninth, NCAA championship game, LSU's worst hitter) mean more to me than Manny's last night, or for that matter the peacocks I saw today? Why the heck am I moved by the softball girls who carried the opponent who just hit a homerun around the bases after she fell and snapped her acl?
I don't know what the answer to this question is, but there is something magical happening out there. Maybe there were Angels in the outfield, lifting Gary Matthews Jr. as he robbed the astros of a homerun. Maybe God kept Bill Buckner's glove just above that ball in '86. Maybe all of these things are just normal every-day occurences that are truly not special at all.
No, there couldn't be something special, different, maybe even perfect about sports. That would be... impossible.

Sports=Escape

As I sit here in class, regretting coming especially now that I realize that we have a substitute today. I find that in a class of 20 people I cannot get up and leave, especially becuase the door is right next to where the teacher is standing to lecture. So how do I survive. Quite frankly, this is better than having the real professor becuase now I can constantly monitor my fantasy baseball team with no interruptions. This is where my title comes from, sports today is truly my escape. I realize now that I have not blogged in a very long time, but I hope I can really get myself going now.
So why is sports an escape? Well Ican listen to my professor explain what facebook is, or I can think about Jason Bay's 2-3 day, with a walk and 2 runs. Or I can spend a little time examining the story about the coach who was fired for beating another team 100-0. I would have given the guy a raise. Anyone who saw the video could see that the team didn't press after the 1st quarter, shot their last three very early in the 3rd quarter, and only scored 12 in the 4th. Hmm, this is interesting. Looks like Josh Beckett got a 6 game suspension for throwing at a guys head.
WARNING, GOING OFF TOPIC IN 3, 2, 1...
Why is a pitcher suspended 6 games? That amounts to 1 start. Why not just hit the guy with a 1 start suspension? Who cares if he is there or not for a few games where he doesn't start? OOOOH, now Josh beckett can't pinch hit in the 9th. Yet again MLB, you fall so short. And why is everyone wearing 42 today? Thats making it less special. Pick one guy from each team, the fan favorite, get him so sign the jersey, auction it off for a few thousand and donate it to a charity.
BACK TO THE TOPIC
For me, I need to get my head out of the game every once in a while. The best way to do that seems to be to put it into a different game.
So write this one up as a mystery solved. Sports = Escape

Time for a question.

Quick, name your favorite sports team. Be specific. (Nebraska Cornhuskers is not specific enough, Nebraska Cornhuskers Women's Water Polo is.)

Tough enough? How about this one? Name your least favorite. Again Specific

Why Do We Care?

Why should you care about sports? Marissa always asks me why, or for that matter how, can I possibly care so much about sports, especially those involving teams that I have absolutely no vested interest in. Why is it that I can sit down and watch Monmouth College play Bryn Mawr in Lacrosse but I cannot sit through five minutes of Desperate Houswives. Moreover, how is it that at the end of the match I find myself cheering a last second goal and jumping up and down like a buffoon? I would hope that somewhere out there this is someone else like me who is so entrapped by Sports that they act the same way, but on a much simpler level, why do any of us watch any sporting event?

One argument is the idea of Bragging Rights. Another angle is the human interest stories about rough childhoods, lost family and friends, and return from all manner of injury. Yet another: entertainment. The list can go on and on for days.

So what do I think? They are all right. We all have our reasons for watching Sports, each of us has his or her own. Whether your reason is so you can carry on the Watercooler Conversation Monday, to entertain yourself, or just becuase you cant tear yourself away, keep watching, listening and reading. People like me need jobs.

First Post

Sport has an uncanny ability to unite an entire nation, even world, in a way that almost no other medium can. Nations come together as one to support a single team or athlete. Wars are postponed in lieu of athletic competition. For a few moments, every quarrel halts, every hatred ceases for one reason. What other medium has as profound an impact as Sport? The immediate argument is Religion, but while Sport halts wars, religion is at the very center of many. So why is it that sport transcends? That is what I hope to tell you through this Blog, assuming of course that I can find the answer myself. This Blog will serve not as a recount of sporting events, but as an examination of the human relationship with the intangibly-concrete idea that is Sport.