The truth about my love of sports...
Hello all. Hope everyone had a good weekend.
On Thursday I came home to my mailbox and got my Sports Illustrated for the week. The cover was a collage of pictures proclaiming the 2004 Boston Red Sox as the "Sportsmen of the Year." Tonight I sat down to read the article about why they were chosen and the lives they've touched. About 15 minutes later, I actually had tears in my eyes. Here are a few highlights:
79 year old George Sumner was dying of cancer and not in good shape, he continued to hang on though and died the day after the Red Sox won the World Series, he let out a sickly "yipee" after they won. There was Sharon Miller, who's husband died last Christmas at the age of 38. She found happiness again this October when she watched her late husband's beloved Red Sox. There was also Roberta Rogers, whose only vacations as a kid were to Fenway Park. She couldn't watch the final game because she was too nervous, the next day she went to the resthome to tell her 95 year old mother (who was sleeping when the final out was recorded). She got to see her mother's face light up and fists pumping in the air. There were many more stories too.
While reading this, all I could think of is "this is why I love sports." At their simplest they are a game played between good athletes, something to entertain us. At their best, they are a common bond between people, a sliver of hope, an escape to something we dream of being. I guess I just happen to see them at their best more often than some :)
As many of you know or have already guessed where this blog is headed, for me the team that brings that out in me are the Iowa Hawkeyes. My mom tells me that I became a fan because I got my bottle during the second half of basketball games (She watched because she liked Lute Olson, the Iowa coach at the time). Ever since then I've been "hooked." Oh, the players I could name that I cheered for wildly when things went right or hurt for when something went wrong. I have people who I haven't seen in years come up to me and instead of asking "Hey, what are you doing now?" They ask me "How about them Hawkeyes?" I know it sounds corny, cheesy, whatever but they are a part of me.
Now the recent success of the football team would make people say "well this isn't like the Red Sox though," and that is true. I love Hawkeye football, Kinnick Stadium is like a cathedral, but if there is one thing I love more, it is Hawkeye basketball. That is where the Red Sox part comes in. The Hawkeyes last went to the Final Four in 1980, a year before I was born. They haven't been back since. They came close in 1987, but blew a big lead in the Elite Eight. Things have looked promising, like the early 90's, but the Final Four never came. But every November, a new season starts, and a new reason to think that maybe, just maybe come the end of March I can watch my Hawkeyes run out onto the Final Four court. I don't tell many people, but I dream of it, I plan what I would do if it were to happen. That is why what the Red Sox did this last year hits all of us sports fans. Thank you 2004 Red Sox for giving us pathetic sports fans hope, and congrats on being 2004 SI Sportsmen of the Year.
On Thursday I came home to my mailbox and got my Sports Illustrated for the week. The cover was a collage of pictures proclaiming the 2004 Boston Red Sox as the "Sportsmen of the Year." Tonight I sat down to read the article about why they were chosen and the lives they've touched. About 15 minutes later, I actually had tears in my eyes. Here are a few highlights:
79 year old George Sumner was dying of cancer and not in good shape, he continued to hang on though and died the day after the Red Sox won the World Series, he let out a sickly "yipee" after they won. There was Sharon Miller, who's husband died last Christmas at the age of 38. She found happiness again this October when she watched her late husband's beloved Red Sox. There was also Roberta Rogers, whose only vacations as a kid were to Fenway Park. She couldn't watch the final game because she was too nervous, the next day she went to the resthome to tell her 95 year old mother (who was sleeping when the final out was recorded). She got to see her mother's face light up and fists pumping in the air. There were many more stories too.
While reading this, all I could think of is "this is why I love sports." At their simplest they are a game played between good athletes, something to entertain us. At their best, they are a common bond between people, a sliver of hope, an escape to something we dream of being. I guess I just happen to see them at their best more often than some :)
As many of you know or have already guessed where this blog is headed, for me the team that brings that out in me are the Iowa Hawkeyes. My mom tells me that I became a fan because I got my bottle during the second half of basketball games (She watched because she liked Lute Olson, the Iowa coach at the time). Ever since then I've been "hooked." Oh, the players I could name that I cheered for wildly when things went right or hurt for when something went wrong. I have people who I haven't seen in years come up to me and instead of asking "Hey, what are you doing now?" They ask me "How about them Hawkeyes?" I know it sounds corny, cheesy, whatever but they are a part of me.
Now the recent success of the football team would make people say "well this isn't like the Red Sox though," and that is true. I love Hawkeye football, Kinnick Stadium is like a cathedral, but if there is one thing I love more, it is Hawkeye basketball. That is where the Red Sox part comes in. The Hawkeyes last went to the Final Four in 1980, a year before I was born. They haven't been back since. They came close in 1987, but blew a big lead in the Elite Eight. Things have looked promising, like the early 90's, but the Final Four never came. But every November, a new season starts, and a new reason to think that maybe, just maybe come the end of March I can watch my Hawkeyes run out onto the Final Four court. I don't tell many people, but I dream of it, I plan what I would do if it were to happen. That is why what the Red Sox did this last year hits all of us sports fans. Thank you 2004 Red Sox for giving us pathetic sports fans hope, and congrats on being 2004 SI Sportsmen of the Year.
posted by CKG at
9:26 PM
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