Reasons I Love Sports

Nate’s 9: Reasons I Love Sports

I liken it more to a disease than I would a hobby.  I literally can’t get enough of sports.  Football, soccer, basketball, tennis, baseball, golf, hockey, the Olympics; if it’s on, I’m probably most likely watching them.  Most of my quality time with my children involves playing sports or something there of. (I believe that hide and seek is just a children’s version of the NFL combine as one must accelerate quickly, show agility in hiding in hard to find places, and resourcefulness as one may also have to locate new and interesting places to hide).  Well, many, many months ago when I first came up with the idea for the Nate’s Nine blog, this was one of the categories that I was pleased to work on.  It kind of sat on the back burner (for over a year), as there were more untailored topics to write on (Mortal Kombat, bucket lists, soda flavors, NFL players, etc), but as Nate’s Nine comes to a close, I thought, why not finally finish my junior masterpiece (I’m saving my masterpiece for the final edition; probably about 3-4 blogs down the road).  Here are the main reasons why sports are all around me.

#9 – Goals.  Love them.  I used to love them in hockey when I was a young child.  I wasn’t familiar with the soccer version, nor did I care to familiarize myself with them until I turned about sixteen.  Then, when soccer came into my life, hockey’s great goals sort of faded away from memory.  I still remember Ovechkin’s.  And I’ll never forget Brett Hull’s (nor will I ever understand it). Now, I identify with goals almost on a weekly basis in soccer, and I think it’s the main valuation of how good and popular a team can be (no one particularly cares for clean sheets every week, but they love their goal of the week moments).  I can usually use sports markers as defining moments in my life.  I know that I was in my living room, just getting home from school, when Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer put home the two goals to give Manchester United the European trophy.  I know that I was almost in the exact same spot when Zinedine Zidane hit the legendary left-footed volley that was able to sink Bayer Leverkusen to lift the same trophy.  I remember standing at the host stand at Champps running back and forth from the kitchen for every one of Ronaldo’s three goals to knock out my darling United.  And I know that I turned my back to Gotze to take a drink of beer when he put away the goal that won Germany the World Cup of 2014.  Life’s grand moments, all.

#8 – Touchdowns.  Love them too.  Maybe a little bit more, just because I was raised on them.  I can go on and on about them in the same manner of which I mentioned goals, but I think it’s better to just explain why.  Touchdowns change lives. Touchdowns change people.  They change moods.  They can change a season, just by the football crossing a goal line.  The Vikings scored plenty of touchdowns in 1998, and I still have yet to see this state as vibrant and excited for sport as I did during those four months of my senior year of high school.  (As a Cheeser, it was brutal, but looking back, it was a fun time to be a part of - “We’re going to Miami”).  That team could score touchdowns at any moment, from anyone and from anywhere.  As for the lives moment... my mother believes this whole-heartedly and without question, and I still waver a little bit on the memories of it, and the possibility of it all, but in early 1998, Randy Moss had scored a pre-season touchdown and jumped into the stands as Green Bay Packers’ players were wont to do, and still are I suppose.  She glanced in my direction to see how I would react, while the light had turned green.  I thought about it, and made some comment about how that was our thing, but whatever.  A red truck (I remember the red, if anything) came barreling through the intersection seconds after the switch had been made.  In any case, my mother believes her life was gone if we had accelerated when we were supposed to, and mine could have ended just as badly.  It was a puny little car, and I’m thankful that we’ll always be able to guess, as opposed to the experience of it.  I have no problem with touchdowns.

#7 – Storylines.  So many great stories come from sports.  Stories of succeeding out of turmoil like the Tide football team after the Tuscaloosa tornado. Tony Dungy getting redemption by winning a Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts after the unfortunate release in Tampa, and the loss of a family member a few years later.  Jackie Robinson’s story.  Sandy Koufax. Tom Brady as a 6th round draft choice. Nancy Kerrigan making her great comeback. The real Hoosiers. Miracle on Ice. Blue Chips. (Just kidding!) Sports are great just for the competition, relationships, health and the like.  Yet, I think they are always just a bit more interesting, a bit more moving, when there’s an enjoyable story in which to follow.

#6 – Solidarity. I know that my experience in Germany as an exchange student would have been entirely different, if I didn’t embrace soccer completely and unconditionally during that year abroad.  Sports are probably the main reason that I was able to make so many friends while I was there.  I would wear my Charlotte Hornets fitted cap (God, how I miss that thing), and Germans would come up and spark conversations about basketball, and of course, Dirk Nowitzki.  I had 20,000 Borussia Dortmund supporters cheering me on just because I got to wave their flag (it’s beyond huge) from one end of the South Stand to the other. I can’t tell you how many lasting friendships that I have been able to develop over here in the United States just because of my love for one Manchester United.  It even goes further than that though.  Even the little instances have made an impact. I got to meet a Californian on his virgin Lambeau experience just because we were both wearing green and gold sitting at a bar in Green Bay.  I purchased a San Francisco Giants hat back in 2002 to show my allegiance to Barry Bonds and that World Series squad, and I had the chance to have a conversation with someone for over an hour about the Giants and what they meant to him and his city.  Sports are great, because they bring you together with people that you would have no business getting to know otherwise.

#5 – Discovering your Favorite Player.  For those who follow sports as obsessively as I do, you know that cheering for a particular athlete can be rewarding.  I would like to bring up the Jordan vs. Bird video game, which was way ahead of its time.  It forced people to pick a side, and make a decision.  It was marketing genius. There are still so many people that I come into contact with that view favorably upon reminiscing about both Larry and Michael.  It’s such a sweet connection when you finally have that favorite player that brings you closer to the sport than you ever could be before they started playing.  Take my two biggest examples.  My favorite football player for many years was Walter Payton.  I loved him from the time I was 5 years old, and I kind of viewed him in a larger-than-life character in which he could do no wrong.  Fast forward fifteen years and I know that he’s not the guy that I made him out to be.  But what he did for my love of football... I don’t know if it can ever be replicated.  I watched football every weekend, and when I wasn’t day dreaming or writing about it, it’s because I was playing it. Now, my favorite football player is, of course, Aaron Rodgers. Like most Packer fans, I’m sure, yet I’ve loved his style from the days of Cal-Berkeley.  I know the player more now and I believe it has a lot to do with why he’s my current and perhaps all-time favorite the way my dad’s was Roger Staubach.  When we get to a certain point in our lives, it becomes more than just about the game.  We want to see how they interact off the field, how they take action with teammates, how they lead, and all that good stuff.  My favorite player never whined while he sat for (3 years!) on the bench in Green Bay, he never complained when the GM decided to let players he counted on like Greg Jennings, James Jones and JerMichael Finley loose.  I’ve been very blessed as a sports fan; I’ve also been quite cursed as a fan of players.  Besides Walter playing for the Bears, I’ve had the unlucky experience of seeing Randy Moss and Adrian Peterson, two players of whom I loved in college; pull on the purple as professional athletes.  I had to see Carlos Tevez leave my beloved United, and dress himself in that nasty blue of Manchester City.  Yet, Aaron Rodgers and Wayne Rooney were my favorites long before they wore my favorite team’s colors, and for that I’m thankful.  As fans we should be so lucky.

#4 – The Business Model. Perhaps you can see the humor in this, because government should be so lucky.  Essentially all five major teams’ sports (Football, European football, basketball, baseball, and hockey) use different models in which to run their entities.  For the most part, they all work, and quite obviously, they all bring in serious money.  We know that the NFL is able to do it with a socialist philosophy, in which all teams get equal spending and then it is up to them on how to utilize those dollars in order to achieve organization expectations.  The fans love it, Goodell sure as hell loves it, owners love it; it certainly works for everyone (except for Oakland and Jacksonville).  I mean this league has some serious issues: domestic violence, concussions/player safety, arrests, among other major concerns, but they just cruise right along, and give us a product we can enjoy.  It’s a successful model, and I enjoy it, and I think most everyone is happy with it...  Baseball has the revenue stream package in which most of them (owners) are given the opportunity to run each team as a separate entity, but then they share revenues with the clubs that are less fortunate/in smaller markets.  I love what it can do, and for the most part, I don’t believe that the smaller markets’ owners have been taking advantage of these contributions from the most profiting teams.  I do remember hearing years back that the Pittsburgh Pirates were pocketing the cash that they were receiving from the richer clubs, but I can’t confirm or deny that any of it happened, which is either a poor internet search on my part, or fantastic maneuvering by those associated with the Pirates and also by the internet.  Anyway, now you often see small market teams profiting, and the larger market teams losing a bit of money at season’s end, but it does give all teams the opportunity to remain competitive, so I consider baseball’s strategy a success...  Basketball has a luxury tax and soft cap, and two of the NBA’s four worst teams are at the top of it.  I like the soft cap, because it allows teams that have built strong squads within, the opportunity to keep everybody together for a long period of time.  I like the luxury tax, because you can go over the cap if you want to push for those extra player/players to win a championship, but you have to pay the price to do so.  It’s what I wish the NFL would do for certain players that reach an age milestone (guaranteed money and all that, but that’s probably for another day).  Anyway, it’s definitely why the San Antonio Spurs have been successful for so long (5 titles in 16 years), and I don’t think you would be able to see this in any other sport (imagine if Stoke City won the Premier League).  David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Sean Elliott, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili all stayed for the duration of their careers, and you would never see that in football. Or in soccer for that matter...  Hockey is finally getting it right.  They used to have these ridiculous contracts in which a player could sign for 18 years at 100 million dollars, but they would just push out the money until the end of the player’s contract, so while they were in their prime, they wouldn’t count against much of the cap.  Well, that sucked for teams that had no idea on how to get better (Unless they got Chicago[Toews, Kane], Washington[Ovechkin] or Pittsburgh[Malkin, Crosby] lucky in the draft), and most of the teams recycled themselves at the bottom of the league (Atlanta, Nashville, Columbus, Florida etc). They also used to have the ridiculous TV contracts where places like Minnesota, if the Wild weren’t on television, would get to see only Detroit, Boston, Chicago, the Rangers, and Montreal over and over again. I can’t imagine that was healthy for the league, and it’s no wonder why the south struggled to ever develop a passion for the game (Atlanta has moved back up, rumors persist that the Coyotes will do so).  NBC Sports and the NHL network have done a much better job balancing out the television viewership over the past couple of years, and I think having more equality on television will develop more fans for the sport over the long run.  Keeping the cap number down is also a positive I believe and it allows for different teams to have success in successive seasons (Colorado won the division last year, now could finish last; on the flip side, Nashville missed the playoffs last season, and may have a shot at a division title)...  The soccer version is American capitalism at its finest. Clubs can spend as much as they please, buy whomever they’d like, and unless Financial Fair Play starts poking its head around, pretty much give sports agents’ full reign of moving players for dollars whenever necessary.  Take Real Madrid for example.  They won the European Cup last year, the tournament that determines which team is the best in all of Europe.  Financially, they could’ve kept that same team intact, and would have realistically had the same chance to do it all again this season.  However, money flexed its big muscles, and they brought in three players for over 150 million dollars (Kroos, James, and Navas).  To accommodate FIFA FFP, they also had to sell a couple of players, and so they sold Angel Di Maria to Manchester United for no apparent reason other than money (He doesn’t seem to be happy in Manchester, Real Madrid players and coaches alike seem to miss him, and the fans most certainly do).  Sucks, right?  The reason that I love this model though is that if club ownerships, or boards, or public stock options are God willing, any club can turn into a potential European powerhouse (see PSG, Manchester City, Malaga and Shakhtar).  PSG was wallowing in the middle of the French League with no threat of ever challenging for major trophies as recent as five seasons ago.  Enter, Qatar Sports Investments. They have just preposterous amounts of money, and now PSG are annual favorites at not only winning France, but the European trophy as well.  They didn’t change anything but the players, but they are also doing things that should have some valuable long-term effects as well.  PSG currently has one of the best youth systems in the world, and there are many promising players coming through the youth teams ready to make their mark on the world of soccer.  While all sports leagues are very different, I don’t think any changes are necessary and each entity makes for great entertainment and sporting value.

#3 – Global/Local Friendships.  Sports have been terrific for me as far as this goes.  I think most of my best friendships have a solid foundation that has been built on sports.  I can name a friend on six of the seven continents (I’m really searching for that die-hard football fan that lives just off the coast of Antarctica), and I’m not sure that any of them would have been established if it wasn’t for our mutual appreciation of sports.  With the exception of the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, I had received an offer from citizens that lived in the countries that have hosted the World Cup during the last four events (Korea, Germany, and Brazil).  It’s lovely to know that those offers are on the table, and I hope to return those same offerings if the United States is ever given a chance to host.  I’ve connected with Finns and Swedes based on their love for hockey; while I enjoy watching hockey, I’m far from saying that I am completely in love with it, but I do respect those that have that fervor.  Yet, I do enjoy those opportunities to engage in conversations with sports enthusiasts from the other side of the world and I’m very thankful for all the people that I’ve been able to meet worldwide and here locally, and I owe most of those friendships to one particular passion.

#2 – The Identity of Franchises.  I love it. I think it’s part of the reason that gets everyone so fired up. The Los Angeles Lakers – Showtime, Hollywood type basketball.  The Boston Celtics – Classy, fundamental basketball.  The New York Yankees – Yeah, you already said it.  And so on and so forth.  The reason I enjoy franchise identity so much though, is because it can be sold to the public, then hype gets bigger, so there is more media coverage, and then there is this explosion of interest that get more fans involved...  For example, the New England Patriots are polarizing; there is no doubt about that (The most recent Super Bowl was the most watched event in US history).  If you love them, you see them through the lens of Bill Belichick, creator of heaven and earth.  His only son, Tom Brady, and the holy cathedral – Foxboro Stadium (Gillette to those that care about that kind of thing).  Then there is us: Belichick – Darth Vader, Brady – Heath Ledger’s Joker, and Gillette – The Waste Lands.  Either way, New England is out there, they are identifiable, and they generate huge interest in the National Football League.  Lakers vs. Celtics will always draw lines, just like Canadians vs. Maple Leafs. Part of it is history and the amount of winning that came from that history, sure, but another part of it is the good vs. evil representation and our identification through that process. Montreal is for the people (good?), Toronto for the rich (evil).  Lakers basketball is for those that like creative stimulation (evil?), the Celtics for those that need to think rationally (good?). I have modified my passions to accept either way of success (Manchester United – money\evil? / Borussia Dortmund – youth development\good?). I just accept and enjoy that people think of sports as more than just a form of entertainment; it’s a way to identity with oneself and the communities of which we are a part of.

#1 – Competition.  It’s straightforward really.  The 1 on 1.  The team vs. team.  You vs. me.  Who’s better?  Who has more determination, more resolve, more energy, or more drive?  It’s something I’ve loved since I’ve been old enough to know what it is, and I hope to instill the same values and ideas into my children.  At the end of the day, I don’t take it too seriously to the point of death threats against players, personal unhappiness, lower self-worth, etc.  But I do think that competition and sport teach us a lot about ourselves, our lives, our cultures and about the world that we live in. We have to work towards everything that we want and need. If I get a 3.9 GPA and I’m going up against you for a job and you had a 4.0, you should get it.  That’s my life’s lesson.  I know what I need to do.  Simply, I just want to be better than you.