A lot of people watch or participate in a sport just for fun, exercise or simply because they like social aspects involved in the activity.
I, for one, think that sport is more about real life than a good chunk of the population realize.
One example that comes to mind stems from a recent Canadian Football League game where the outcome that was perceived by some as a foregone conclusion, didn’t quite work out that way and the events took a 180 degree turn on a dime.
The visiting club dominated about two-thirds of the contest - putting up points nearly at will while the home squad struggled to even hang onto the ball even when it was their possession. Sort of like how it feels when you wake up on a Monday and nothing seems to be going your way as you get ready for work followed by a day at work that made you wish you had just called in sick.
Well, somehow the home team began to make some gains, string a few first downs together then found the end zone for a couple of scores to make the contest close with only a couple of minutes to go; kind of like finding that rhythm or zone where your work begins to just get done or the stuff you need to accomplish at home starts to come together a bit easier, but even though there is still a lot to do you believe you can get it done.
Then the home team really finds their stride, scores again, then creates a turnover that pushes the game into overtime providing them with an opportunity for victory; similar to how someone gets struck by that ‘eureka’ moment which gives them more energy, more power to complete a task they initially thought would be impossible to finish in the time they allocated.
Finally, the team punches through with a few more points - giving them the lead - before their defence comes up with a huge play to deny the visitors any last hope of a comeback, somewhat like hitting a project deadline and then your supervisor or boss hoisting you above the rest of your colleagues for rising to the occasion before handing you a nice bonus.
The only thing is - sports can provide all of those ups, downs, ins, outs, twists, turns and roller coaster of emotions - be it football, hockey, basketball, baseball or several others - in the span of time it takes to play it, usually over the course of a few hours; whereas in life, some of those things can take days, weeks, years or even decades to be flushed out.
I think that’s kind of why I’ve always like watching some sports and not others - for that sense of being able to feel those emotions, those aspects of life - during a short span. You can witness it also when playing or officiating certain sports as well, probably another reason why I do some of the things I do and why I love to report and photograph sports events.
However, there is no substitute for real life, so to all of you that think sports is the be all and end all, to this I say - it’s all a game, you won’t die with a loss and you won’t walk away with anything valuable with a win, so don’t treat it like it’s life or death, don’t treat it like the world is against you if things do go your way or how you expect. We will all go home afterward and have to deal with our real lives - which can sometimes mean life and death.
But that is…just an observation.