Why Sports?
By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
March 12, 2015
I believe the fundamental allure of sports is that everything — good and bad — happens much more quickly and intensely than in our day-to-day lives.
Long-time PGA tour golfer, Mike Reid, might have captured the essence of sports best when he said, “Sports is like life with the volume turned up.”
Indeed.
Reid was philosophizing at a post-round press conference after blowing a lead on the final couple holes of the 1989 PGA Championship. A win would’ve been his first — and ultimately only — victory in one of golf’s four major tournaments.
On that fateful day, Reid went on to say about sports, “The friendships are tighter, the laughter is louder and some nights seem a little longer, like tonight’s gonna be when I’m trying to figure out what happened.”
The intro to the classic ABC series, Wide World of Sports, provides another clue as to the reason why sport has its claws permanently embedded in so many of us.
Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport. The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat. The human drama of athletic competition …
Ah yes, the human drama of athletic competition — the glorious ups and the torturous downs. Sports are the ultimate reality TV show. It’s the complete unpredictability of sports that fuels our anticipation of the next game. We typically don’t like unpredictability in our personal lives – our egos cry out for control — but there’s something captivating about it in SportsWorld.
The upcoming NCAA basketball tournament, aka March Madness, is a perfect example. It’s annually one of America’s favorite sporting events, filled with upsets and memorable plays. And if you’re one of those people that don’t understand why the rest of us give so much time and energy to sports, watch the NCAA tourney-ending video montage set to the song “One Shining Moment.” This three-minute clip never seems to fail to capture the tournament’s twists and turns, and the emotional rollercoaster of young athletes giving their all in the quest of a common goal.
… One shining moment, you reached deep inside,
One shining moment, you knew you were alive …
How true. Sport at its best requires athletes to give more than they thought they could — physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. And because of that, whether we’re experiencing sport firsthand as athletes, or secondhand as fans, it is, as Reid said, “life with the volume turned up.”
A person is rarely more alive — or living in the moment — than during an intense sporting event. There’s no regrets about the past or angst about the future in the heat of competition. Life is now.
Another appealing aspect of sport is that it removes the frustrating shades of gray that dominate our normal existence. In sports, there’s a scoreboard. Within three hours or so, you know if you’ve won or lost.
We rarely get that in our often-humdrum daily lives. Usually, we don’t know if we’re winning, losing or simply getting by.
After eight hours of work, it’s hard to answer the question, “Did I win today?” You might feel good about that report you gave your boss, but you’ll probably never really know if it will end up impacting the company’s bottom line in any meaningful way.
It’s the same with our relationships. How am I doing with my spouse? As a parent? You may be following the current gold standard for parenting with your six-year-old but you won’t know if you’re making a difference as a parent for another 20 years or so — if then. There are so many uncontrollable environmental, genetic and individual factors involved, that you may never be able to truly determine if you won or lost as a parent.
In sports, there’s a clear winner and clear loser. And it’s determined relatively quickly. Even full seasons reach closure, with champions crowned, in a matter of months.
I’ll close by returning to the Mike Reid quote above. Reid said “friendships are tighter” in sports. I agree wholeheartedly. I’ve been blessed with many friendships from my working life. Other friends have come through non-professional organizations and informal associations. And a few friendships have blossomed simply from sharing the ebb and flow of life with neighbors.
But my best friends have all come through sports, either people I competed with in high school, college or later in life, or simply through a shared passion for a particular sport or team.
In the end, I think the best thing about sports is the camaraderie involved, the relationships that are cultivated. Whether it’s a bond with a parent, grandparent, cousin, sibling, teammate, or friend, sports connect people — often for life.
And ultimately, that’s more meaningful than any walk-off homer or game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer — no matter how exciting those moments can be.
This blog post is part of a series curated by the editors of HuffPost’s The Tackle on the importance of youth sports. To see all the other posts in the series, click here.
Ken Reed is Sports Policy Director for League of Fans.
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #22 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Rethinking Sports Fandom with Author Craig Calcaterra – We discuss Calcaterra’s new book “Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game” and explore new ways to be a fan in the year 2022.
Listen on Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor and others.
Follow on Facebook: @SportsForumPodcast
More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts; PocketCasts; & Anchor
Episode #21 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Chatting About a Broken Game With Baseball Writer Pedro Moura – Moura is a national baseball writer for Fox Sports. We discuss how and why the game of baseball is broken, what factors caused it, and offer a few thoughts on how to “fix” a great game.
Episode #20 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Coaching Youth and High School Sports Based On What’s Best for the Athlete’s Holistic Development – We chat with long-time youth, high school and college basketball coach Jim Huber.
Episode #19 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Capturing the Spirit of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League with Anika Orrock – We discuss the hoops AAGPFL women had to jump through to play the game they loved as well as the long-term impact and legacy they have in advancing sports opportunities for girls and women.
Episode #18 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking about the 50th Anniversary of Title IX and the Lia Thomas Controversy with Nancy Hogshead-Makar – Hogshead-Makar is a triple gold medalist in swimming, a civil rights attorney and CEO of Champion Women.
Episode #17 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking Sports With Legendary New York Times Sports Columnist Robert Lipsyte – We chat about Lipsyte’s amazing career and some of the athletes he covered.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
Books