Star Wars Force Awakens Within Steph Curry, Cam Newton, Tom Brady
"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together."—Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, your parents and grandparents flocked to see Star Wars when it was simply a grainy, low-def movie. Those of us at the perfect age for this space opera's rapturous mix of science fiction, real-life drama and unique alternative universe—I was 12—had no idea we'd be awaiting its latest sequel/prequel nearly 40 years later.
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The Force Awakens officially opens Friday. The seventh film in the Star Wars series has received nearly universal acclaim in early reviews and aims to destroy any and all box-office records in its path.
Obi-Wan's breakdown above is about as close as you'll get to a definition of the Force from anyone in authority.
Ranking those who carry the Force in the temporal world of professional sports can be as complex as any list of Star Wars characters who have mastered the make-believe world of film.
The Force shares its origins from varied sources of religion and mythology from all over the world. It is accessed via midi-chlorians, which are microscopic organisms inside the cells of those who use it.
Its power controls mind, body and soul. It moves objects and people. Those more inclined to lean toward the Dark Side are the easiest ones manipulated by it. Others are able to resist. The power of the Force provides users with incomprehensible battle reflexes, the power to heal wounds, the power to relieve pain and the ability to even cheat death.
The sports world of May 25, 1977, was dominated by the NBA Finals between Philadelphia and Portland. The day after the premiere in the Star Wars series, the 76ers took a 2-0 series lead. But they crumbled and dropped four straight thanks to the alternative reality created by center Bill Walton and the Trail Blazers.
Luke Walton continues his father's journey toward Obi-Wan status by coaching the NBA's most lethal Jedi in Golden State's Stephen Curry on an interim basis.
There's no denying the Force is strong in that one, even if he did lose to Milwaukee.
Balance, Luke.
Balance.
Curry uses the energy field that surrounds him to create highlights, victories and championships.
Jedi material.
Cam Newton has helped create a Force field around Carolina, which owns a perfect record after 13 games this season. He's done it with throws like this.
Luke Skywalker never did that with a lightsaber.
Out of this world.
Newton has taken up with the light side of the Force, as least to those who root for the Panthers and perfect seasons. It wasn't always this way for Cam. When Newton was still a padawan, he threw a stolen computer out of a campus dorm window at the University of Florida and was subsequently arrested. (The charges were dropped after he completed a pre-trial diversion program and community service.) The Heisman Trophy winner from Auburn now hands footballs to children in the stands after he scores touchdowns.
And remember, the Force doesn't take sides; only those who use it do.
Kobe Bryant clearly possesses a mastery of the Force. So does LeBron James. But depending on one's loyalty and preference, Curry and the Warriors used the Force against James to bring balance to the NBA's universe last spring.
Crucial injuries to Cleveland's Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving also helped.
Anakin and Luke Skywalker demonstrated the complexity of the Force within the same family.
When it comes to the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, there's plenty of Force to go around.
Serena was named Sports Illustrated's 2015 Sportsperson of the Year on Monday. Sorry, American Pharoah. Serena won 53 of her 56 matches, three of the four Grand Slam events and was No. 1 in the WTA rankings every week. And she did all of that on just two legs. Perhaps she could have used two more in her charity 5k last weekend.
In honoring Williams, SI's Christian Stone wrote: "We are honoring Serena Williams too for reasons that hang in the grayer, less comfortable ether, where issues such as race and femininity collide with the games."
Remember that part about the Force affecting the mind and soul of others.
"Far past the time that anyone expected it, she demonstrated a capacity for change—innovation, if you will. Like many, she's groping for answers. ... But she's determined to make a difference," S.L. Price wrote in SI's cover story.
No two figures in pro sports exemplify the duplicity of the Force better than New England quarterback Tom Brady and his coach—Bill Belichick.
To Patriots fans, Brady and Belichick are the Luke and Yoda of the NFL. The master of all Jedi guiding the most lethal Jedi in the universe. They are the ultimate power on the light side, fighting their own Death Star on Park Avenue in New York.
While Belichick exhorts his Patriots to "do your job," Jedi master Yoda once famously said, "Do. Or do not. There is no try."
Elsewhere, Brady is Anakin (complete with his own Padme Amidala in Gisele). Belichick is often cast as either Anakin's older self, Darth Vader or Darth Vader's boss—Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine.
No matter Brady's Force inclination, he has his own Chewbacca of sorts in Rob Gronkowski. Gronk may not have mastered the Force, but he is a force on the football field.
The Force can be temporary. Use it or lose it, so to speak. The sports history recycle bin is littered with one-hit wonders who find, for a play, a game or season, the Force working for them.
David Tyree's short-term rental of the Force in Super Bowl XLII shows its fleeting nature.
Tyree had one of his best games as a pro on the NFL's most mammoth stage. He caught three balls for 43 yards and one touchdown.
Tyree blew up the Death Star or crushed the hopes of the light side—depending on one's perspective—with his 32-yard helmet catch over Rodney Harrison in the fourth quarter.
It was Tyree's final catch in the NFL.
19-0 meet 18-1.
Fickle can the force be.
Plenty of teams and athletes have incorporated Star Wars characters and themes in their repertoires in recent years.
Darth Vader has thrown out the first pitch at Wrigley Field (above in 2014), teams have dressed in Star Wars-themed uniforms and more than one professional athlete, including Aaron Rodgers, has shown his affinity for the film series.
While any exercise to inject the teachings of the Force into the real world of sports is purely hypothetical, there is a very real world of sports in the hypothetical Star Wars universe. Chief among these sports is podracing, an intergalactic mixture of NASCAR, UFC and aerial combat.
Yet even in a galaxy far, far away, some things still feel very much like home.
Tim Veekhoven and Sander de Lange wrote on StarWars.com:
"One sector that is able to profit heavily from the popularity of sports is the gambling industry. Making a correct bet at who would win the Fire Mountain Podrace or what team would win the Nuna-Ball League could make you very rich. This certainly happens on planets controlled by governments that thrive on profits from gambling, such as the ones controlled by the Hutts.
"
There were Galactic Games held on a different planet every seven years during the time of the Galactic Republic. "The Galactic Games Council was so influential that they even succeeded to make betting on the games illegal," Veekhoven and De Lange wrote. When Emperor Palpatine's New Order replaced the Galactic Republic, the Imperial Games were born.
Other sports include shockball, smashball, zoneball and wegsphere, which "features two teams playing in a low-gravity field where they have to place the ball into the opponent's goal."
In the earth's normal gravitational pull, certain athletic successes can appear to be the result of metaphysical forces, curses or simple luck. There is usually nothing so complex or destructive at play. Success is often simply a result of brutal workouts, years of practice and repetition. Failure comes from being outplayed and outcoached in all phases of the game.
Dark side or light.
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