Sports: Humanity's Greatest Creation

Sports. Whatever sport it is, lump them all together, and they are the greatest thing God has given us in the history of humanity! They've been around forever, and people from every age have gathered around to watch and see what is going to happen. Competitor against competitor to see who will win, and how it will happen. Gladiator vs Gladiator; Olympian vs Olympian; Phillies vs Yankees.

People have been finding ways to compete at anything for the entire span of human history, and we will continue to do so until the end of the world.

I will admit that it seems a bit extreme to make a statement like that, but I ask you to tell me one thing, besides religion, that has so strongly affected people of every walk of life. Actually, to be truthful to the definition, sports have become a religion for many people in the world today.

Sports by themselves are nothing more special than anything else. Throwing a football or a baseball around is fun, and it can give you some exercise. Shooting hoops and skating are in the same boat. The activity in itself is merely exercise.

Where it starts to change is when the rules become involved. People start to add goals for each competitor to achieve, and things start to get exciting. Tossing a football usually turns into teams separating, designating endzones, and turning it into a game. The excitement challenges us both physically and mentally. Tell someone to come out to play a game, and you will get more positive responses than if your ask to just throw the ball around.

The excitement changes again when you add different factors. "Johnny's" girlfriend comes to watch and it affects both "Johnny" and his girlfriend. Johnny's adrenaline kicks up and he wants to do well to show off in front of his girlfriend. She's excited because she gets to see her man succeed or fail. Both outcomes have corresponding reactions of happiness or sorrow.

Add thousands of fans to the mix, and things change again with the level of excitement. Anyone that has been at a live sold out sporting event knows just how exciting it really is.

So we've established the excitement factor, and it is the excitement of it all that brings us all together. People that can't stand one another can often set aside their differences when cheering for the same team in the same stadium or arena. Even people of different faiths come together not only to play, but to cheer together with no animosity towards each other.

You even see people of every class coming together to watch. There is some segregation based on price of tickets, but everyone can come together and cheer their hometown team to victory.

With all this being said, what really is it that brings us all together? What is it about sports that has such a huge effect? Whatever it is, people have tried to emulate it for centuries. People scripted stories and plays to tell stories of comedy, drama and tragedy to entertain the masses. Some early sports were too violent for some, leaving others with a need for entertainment. Gradually it moved to the big screen and the small screen.

There is only one problem with plays, stories, movies and television shows. All of these are scripted, and to watch it again, you know how it is going to turn out. You watch any of these again, and you may enjoy it the second or third time, but there is something about not knowing the outcome that makes the journey towards it so enjoyable.

That is the difference between sports and fiction. Writers do fabulous jobs at creating the catchy storylines, and surprise endings. The only problem is, they can only write so much at a time, and you end up having to wait a long time for the next one. To watch it again, you lose that suspense.

Sports are the same way in that knowing the outcome, or watching a game again, you lose a lot of the enjoyment of watching it live or watching it the first time. Every new game is like a new movie. You know who is in it, and you have an idea how the game is going to play out because of the trends in how the teams play. The only thing is, you never know how the whole thing will end. A mistake here, and a spectacular play there, and the expected outcome changes in an instant!

Take the most recent Super Bowl for instance. A game that could have been won by either team, and pretty much came down to a play that would have been drastically different if anything changed by a matter of inches, or a matter of seconds.

The Arizona Cardinals were threatening to score very late in the first half to take a 14-10 lead of the Pittsburgh Steelers. A one yard pass was intercepted and run back 100 yards to the endzone for a touchdown that gave Pittsburgh a 17-7 lead. Had the Cards run the ball, they may or may not have scored, but chances are good the Steelers wouldn't have. If James Harrison takes a step an inch or two further to the right, and he would have been out of bounds, leaving the play dead with no time left on the clock. He needed to go all the way and he did!

There is a randomness of events that can happen in a game that are outside the scope of preparation, which is why it makes it so exciting to watch! This randomness can't be found in movies, plays or TV shows. That was however until "Reality TV" came around. It's real people being put in the spotlight, and given a chance to win some lucrative prizes.

I realize not everyone likes sports, and most of it is because of three things.

1. Most popular sports that people have stayed away from in the past and present are in some way violent. Football and Hockey get the toughest rap for organized violence, but most sports to some degree have a level of violence that turns away a lot of people. Those people don't watch sports, or watch less violent sports.

2. Team owners have seen the increase in support over the last several decades, and tried to take advantage of this. Nobody said much about it though until players started asking for their share of the pie. Since then players have been making astronomical salaries, which makes many people hate sports for the principle. These people don't like Actors for the same reason(or at least they should).

3. The last reason many people don't follow sports, is a sad one that can be avoided. What I love about sports is fair play, and the sportsmanship that comes with two competitors giving 100 percent to try to win. When people aren't fair, aren't sportsmanlike, or need to win at all costs, it can ruin the experience for many people. Kids often leave sports early in their lives not because they didn't enjoy it, or weren't good enough, but because they didn't enjoy the experience. Coaches, teammates and fans can often ruin the experience for the kids or their families.

These three factors are a huge reason why some people don't follow sports, and while the first two reasons are not likely to change, the third one can easily be changed for a positive outcome.

As I've said before, sports can bring people together and give people something to believe in that is "bigger than themselves" as I have heard many times before. It can bring a group of people together as a group watching, and can also give people a feeling of family that they may have never experience before. It gives them a cause to stand behind and can bring entire communities and regions together.

As with everything in the world, the wrong people can turn something good into something destructive.

Many fans have forgotten what their purpose in all of this and it can cause things to go horribly wrong. Cheering a team to victory is the purpose, but many people tend to take losses very badly and take their frustrations out on the team. Booing and swearing at players for not doing their job. "They're paid to win, so I expect nothing less." That's a response I've heard way too many times. I'm going to remember that the next time you make my burger without pickles the way I am paying you to do! "Boooooooooo! You F-ing jerk! You suck! If I wanted pickles I'd go get some from your mom!!! Go back to where you came from you bum!!!".

You would be furious if someone treated you that way, and I don't think it's the best way to see a change in the play of the players on your team. More people will work better if you show your support no matter what happens, and just buying tickets doesn't show support! Fans of the other team still buy tickets from the same place! Letters of encouragement, cheering even when the team isn't playing as well, and not bringing everyone down with your complaining at every little mistake you pick out. Just because your life hasn't gone the way you've expected doesn't mean the world is against you, and it surely doesn't mean that ALL the referees are out to see your team fail.

In conclusion, I would like to see sports move away from the example soccer is setting for fans. Players being murdered or committing suicide because of a mistake that cost a game is something none of us should have to put up with.

Sports have the ability to teach kids many things, and could even teach adults a few things! They have the ability to heal a nation, so lets enjoy the highs, and sluff off the lows. If everyone knew their team was going to win every game it wouldn't be that fun! Just ask the New York Giants! Most people didn't watch that Super Bowl to see the Pats win another Super Bowl, they did it on the possibility the Giants could win! Patriots fans were disappointed, but I certainly hope they could enjoy the record season they gave to get to that point.

I love to win, and as much as it sucks to lose, keep the faith that you might get another chance and make the best of every opportunity! Enjoy the ride, not just the outcome, and you'll be a lot more satisfied...all because of sports!