Sports Matter, Sports Don't Matter......

​It’s the morning after a tough Cowboys and Rangers loss. First thought when I wake up is how rough a sports night it was. While getting dressed for work I’m streaming a Dallas sports radio station listening to them breakdown the Cowboys and Rangers looking for some sort of light at the end of the tunnel. My wife walks in and gives me the “you’re crazy” look. She doesn’t understand how big of a deal this is! The Rangers could blow the division! And the Cowboys just got embarrassed! Our pet’s heads are falling off! The world is ending!

Sports and I have an abusive relationship. She treats me like crap and I keep coming back because I hope that she’s nice to me at times. Either way, I love her.

But the bigger question is why does it even matter? Why am I so invested in what happens on the field/court with athletes that have no idea that I even exist? (Minus a few players that have responded to my tweets, they know me now). After days/months of trying to figure out why it matters so much I think I can describe it in the following sentence:

Sports are the most real thing that doesn’t matter.

Seems simple enough, right? Sports aren’t scripted and it’s no reality show. It’s the ultimate form of entertainment and the entire outcome is determined on the field/court (minus the NBA 2006 finals when the officials…….. STAY FOCUSED, TONY!) Yet sports don’t care if you’re on your knees and praying for a win. It will kick you when you’re down. If you find it hard to work the next day after a loss, sports don’t care. When tears stream down your face in defeat, sports moves on. Sports don’t pay the bills and sports don’t heal your flu. It doesn’t take your kids to daycare and it surely doesn’t mean that you don’t have to meet that work deadline. Sports can bring and take players and heroes in and out of your life in a split second, and never look back.

But sports are beautiful. It’s much more than a bunch of rich athletes running around. Sports are there as an escape when life is happening. Its pristine grass and stadiums filled with 16 to 100 thousand fans chanting in unison. Sports can bring you to your knees and it can make you jump out of your seat in a spontaneous moment of indescribable joy. Sports create the proudest of bragging rights between friends and people you’ve never met. A whole town, state, or country can come together because of sports. Sports can make you proud of where you’re from. A team that you’ve rooted for your whole life, through good times and bad, can make that one play or get that one win that your and your friend/family will talk about forever.

Nothing can top my faith in Jesus and the love I have for my wife, daughters, and family. Life goes on regardless of what happens with my teams. I’m still a husband and a dad. I’m a son, brother, and uncle. I’m an employee with the responsibilities of supporting my family. Sports don’t matter externally, but internally it means everything. Regardless of how emotionally taxing a season can be and how annoying I can be with my sports rants, it’s all in good nature. It’s a passion. I hope you can all understand.