Sports

Today I wanted to take a step back from the short stories or other philosophical thoughts to discuss something a bit silly. Sports.

As many people may or may not know I am heavily invested in certain teams for sports. However, when I was younger I thought the entire idea of this investment was idiotic. Why would I ever want to watch other people play sports? That seemed absolutely dumbfounded. Therefore, many of my younger years were spent disregarding those who enjoyed this pass time. I thought the statistics were meaningless, the players were stuck up, and the overall experience a borefest.

So what changed? One thing I found intensely profound was the communities that surround each team. There is a history, value system, and even traditions. It's not unlike joining a church, enjoying your own culture, or perhaps actually joining a team. You become apart of the "in group". There is even some extra fun to be had found outside your own team's community. Almost like an astrological sign, you find that people will begin making first impressions based on what team you support.

Community is a major factor for myself when I first got invested. I think it is actually ignorant to disregard other peoples enjoyments like I did when I was much younger. People enjoy sports. Who am I to think that they are wrong in such a venture? I will not deny, some people can take it a bit far. If your entire personality is devoted to this one aspect of life, I do think that is worthy of criticism. However, any community, whether it is sports or not, will have these statistical outliers. It is important to understand when something is perhaps a bit too much. Gluttony applies even in this case.

Once you've made it past this though, there is little reason not to get involved. Pick a sport you most enjoy, pick a team you most enjoy, and simply have some fun. I myself, love the Toronto Maple Leafs. I'm sure you dear reader now knowing this information, gave a audible sigh. Fear not though, I enjoy the banter; I receive it on a daily basis. Walking into a place with my teams jersey often results in at least someone walking over and mentioning it. We laugh, exchange some lighthearted insults, or perhaps even compliments. Regardless of such, we are contained within the "in group". It is a belonging to a larger community that gives a real sense of grounded companionship.

This is a rare feeling to be found outside of communities. All enjoying a sports team is merely experiencing that part of a community. I think it is easy for people to disregard it much like I did, however, try to keep an open mind to it. People enjoy it because of whatever personal reason they have chosen. It means something real to them. It now means something real to me. With that feeling, I try to be more open minded about what people enjoy and think why do they enjoy this community? What traditions or culture surrounds that community?