This past Sunday, June 6th, 2010, handed to me one of the worst work days I have ever had. A plethora of catastrophes piled up and news of altered shifts resulting in hour cuts devastated me. The one thought that consistently brought my spirits up was the fact that game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals was to start at 8:00PM. The series was tied at 2 games apiece and the Flyers looked unstoppable in the two previous games. Every time this thought popped into my head I must have looked like a different man.
But I had to ask myself,"why?" Why do I care about a group of men playing a sport? Why do I care about a group of guys, some younger than me, that are making six figure salaries while I'm struggling to get my life started? The outcome of the games have no dangerous effect on my life. If they lose I'm not going to die. I'm not going to lose my car. My girlfriend won't leave me. My friends and family won't abandon me. The reasons for why I shouldn't care are never ending, but the reason for caring overpowers every reason against caring.
It gives us something to be happy about.
Sports brings millions of people together for a common purpose. A good purpose (most of the time). What else would America do September-January on Sundays if it weren't for football? What would we watch on lazy summer nights if it weren't for America's past time? And specifically, in Philadelphia, what would we have been doing the past two months if it weren't for one of the most euphoric runs in Philly sports history?
Those answers are simple: 1.) If it weren't for football, September-January Sundays would be like every other Sunday of the year. 2.) If it weren't for baseball, we would watch some other tv show on lazy summer nights. 3.)If the Flyers weren't in the Cup, life would be moving just fine.
All of the above is true, but none of us would be as happy.
Everybody wants a reason to be happy and sports is the perfect answer, especially if your teams are good. Name one other event where you can dress like an idiot and act like a maniacal beast stuck between an orgasm and seizure screaming at the top of your lungs.
Yes, sometimes a passion for sports is taken too far. Violent occurrences are known to happen at sporting events, but that doesn't mean all 45,000 in attendance are involved. So aside from a few bad apples a season, the passion is a beautiful thing.
Some people take sports to their grave... literally. As we all know, Texes has the highest execution rate in the country. If you ever look up a website with the last words of those executed you see quite a number of "How 'bout them Cowboys!" On a more sentimental note, you hear all time about people being buried in their Phillies hats and Eagles sweatshirts. It's what sports does. It makes people that happy. It is a regulated reason to be happy, and if your team takes you to the Promise Land (Championship) you get a parade.
I'm as passionate as they come. I lost sleep the first three times the Eagles lost the NFC Championship Game in 2002, 2003 and 2004. I cried when the Phillies won the World Series. I held back tears when they lost the World Series; and I'm not afraid to admit that no matter the outcome of this Amazing and Historic Flyers run, I'll probably spurt a few tears.
People look for happiness in some strange places, and trust me, sports are not strange.
Go Flyers!
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