By Marl Capili
Looking at the world of sports from the outside, you would think that everyone involved is crazy. First it’s the players, a bunch of grown men or women running around in matching outfits either throwing or kicking a ball around, hitting a ball with a stick, or literally running in circles. Then there’s the intensity, players literally giving their bodies up just to stop someone from passing a line or from putting a ball in a hoop. But then even wilder there’s the fans, people crying, cheering, and screaming for people that they’ve never met before and possibly will never meet. Filling arenas by the thousands and travelling half the world just to see a team play. From the outside looking in, it doesn’t make sense, but when you’re in it it all makes sense. The blood, sweat, and tears involved, the pain and agony over different events, the way that we get star struck over these random people. I know that it doesn’t make sense but I can try my best to explain why at least I’m such a fanatic for sports.
When we talk about entertainment, the most impactful works of literature, television, and cinema come down to the story. When it comes to sporting events, you can’t write the storylines that are made from each event. Every year there are twists and turns that no one could predict, there are shows and channels devoted to predicting what will happen yet they rarely seem to get it right. How about the tale of the Leicester City Foxes in 2015-2016. They went from being dropped to a lower league the previous year to winning a championship despite having 5000-1 odds. What about Super Bowl LI, where the New England Patriots mount a comeback from 28-3 down to take the championship. Whether it’s the season long epic, or the single game story, sports writes its own tales and we as fans get to witness every twist and turn live.
A story is only as appealing as their main characters, and the world of sports is filled with a cast of characters each with a different background and path to the spotlight where they are now. Look at Lebron, starting from his teen years, he was proclaimed the King coming out of Akron, Ohio of all places and yet he was able to live up to the hype and widely considered one of the greatest of all time. On the other hand we have players like N’golo Kante, a relative unknown often rejected player for being too small. He rose through the ranks until he made a breakthrough with Leicester and is now seen as one of the greatest defensive midfielders in soccer. Some players are bland and stoic like the great Tim Duncan or they can be a walking meme like JR Smith. When you watch a sport some people just see a bunch of millionaires running around, but what I see is a group of individuals that each have had a various amount of obstacles to get where they are now.
Last but not least, one of the most appealing parts of sports is its ability to bring people together. There’s no greater feeling than being at the game and bonding with complete strangers over a sport. Sometimes you have no idea what’s happening yet the aura and atmosphere created by just being present is intoxicating. Very few places can you find a place where you can get a sense of camaraderie with such a huge group of people you’ve never met, people who could have completely different views and experiences than you. It’s almost beautiful seeing the way sports can bring people together such as during World Cups or Olympics.