The Sanctity of Sports

The sanctity of football. The domination of water polo. The clash of lacrosse. The passion of soccer.

What is it about sports which so thoroughly hold our attention that people across the world are consumed with not only playing but watching these sports. In every part of the world their are sports which dominate the community and manage to unite and hold the attention of the public. In fact, with the proliferation of networks such as ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programing Network ), NESN (New England Sports Network), YES (Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network), Fox Sports, NFL Network, and other such area sports related networks it's hard to find a place where televised sports are not available. Coupled with the proliferation of Foxsports.com, espn.com, espn360.com, cbssports.com, nfl.com, nhl.com, mlb.com, etc. it's impossible for there to not be somewhere in the world that someone can access immediate sports news on their favorite team. What is it than that holds us in such constant admiration of sports?

As a swimmer in my youth I constantly pushed myself to a higher limit. I learned life lessons of how to manage my life and push yself out of my comfort zone and become a better person. On a personal side the lessons I learned from sports greatly complimented the fact that I got to stay in good shape. However growing up in the swimming world I came to appreciate the things that athletes put themselves through. For example, watching Michael Phelps break Mark Spitz's record this past summer at the Summer Olympics for me was truly remarkable because being a swimmer I could openly appreciate the effort and training that went into the remarkable accomplishment. For my friend Carolyn however, being a softball player it was extremely important to watch the USA woman's team play on the olympic stage for the last time. Connected to the sports we grew up playing we were both intrinsically attached to these moments of watching the best of those who played our sports compete for greatness that only comes once every four years.

My friend Sean is on the other end of the spectrum. A born football player the NFL holds a remarkable hold over him as he analyzes salary caps, team rosters, playbooks, scouts games, and other miscellaneous things. For him the NFL is all about the sport and not the marketing aspect that has resulted in the spawn of everything football. Perhaps it's the marketing that has taken over the sports industry. As players are paid more and teams compete at higher and faster levels there is a growing chain of marketability to an action addicted audience. Forget cigarettes or Proctor and Gamble, the sports world has by far some of the best marketing in the world. Why? Because it connects to those moments in our lives when we're kids. Because we're passionate about the local sports teams and people know they can market that and build suspense on it to make money. The things we are loyal to and that connect to us on a personal level have become the things that we admire and hold and grasp our attention. Is it the marketing than that holds our attention or is it the personal aspect of our lives that truly connect us to sports. Either way it seems that like every other Monday I'll have Monday night football on, and like every October I'll be watching cheering on the Red Sox, and like every four years I'll be cheering on Michael Phelps and the USA water polo team, it seems that I'll always be following sports for whatever reason.