Sunday, August 3, 2014

Why We Love Sports This Week

So I'm a big sports fan. As much as I think and write about theology and matters of faith, I do spend a lot of time ensconced in sports. My homepage is ESPN.com; when you turn on my TV, it's already on ESPN; and though my DVR is set to record new episodes of Parks and Rec and Girl Meets World, my only real appointment viewing is Chicago sports.

I often stick up for sports when they get slammed in our increasingly populist-enraged society, in which social media loves to fuel widespread anger at sports, sometimes deservedly, other times in a quite shallow manner.

For example, professional athletes are paid exorbitantly - like in Major League Baseball, where the average salary in well into the multi-millions, and the richest player averages a $30M+ salary. As easy as it is to blackball these people for greed or trivialize their being handsomely compensated simply for physical ability, the reality is that they are in the top 1% (even 0.1%) of their field, one with huge revenues fueled largely by average Americans. I know not every elite professional in every industry makes eight figures, but the reality of being the best of the best of the best is a higher paycheck. The conversation on professional athletes and modern society should instead be about extreme pay disparities or the commoditization of athletes.

I like to celebrate what some in social media spheres call "why we love sports today" moments. These are the times when the reality of people dedicating themselves all out to a competitive cause with droves of fans behind them celebrates humanity and what we're capable of when we're working together. These are the things that help balance out the news of athletes' being guilty of domestic abuse, drug use, and other less-than-exemplary behaviors.

Take first, Thursday afternoon - the annual July 31st rite of the Trading Deadline in Major League Baseball. Teams in contention for the playoffs jockey for position, when one win or loss could be the difference between a berth into the postseason and an early plane ticket home for winter. The tough reality of this is that players, whether they've been the topic of rumors and rumblings in the preceding weeks or not, are sometimes pulled from the bullpen, the bench, or even from the field mid-game, as members of their front office alert the coaching staff of an impending trade. As challenging as it is to see a player pulled from their teammates and told to pick up and go to a new team, there's a moment of poignancy among these large, intimidating males.

This year's deadline was being nicknamed "Hug Watch," as the day's game broadcasts included shots of these players moving through their dugouts to hug their now former teammates. My older brother and I were keeping an eye on Twitter as we sat at Wrigley Field during the Cubs game, watching the clock approach the 3pm deadline. Just before the clock struck three, we saw the long hair and beard of a familiar relief pitcher stirring down the left-field line, and we knew James Russell had been traded. As he took his last walk up and down the home team's third-base line, he hugged his bullpen mates good bye, high-fived a line of front-row fans, and made his way through the dugout for good-byes.
Tough as it is to see players (humans) treated as tradeable commodities, the difficult moment of changing teams comes with a moment of camaraderie and appreciation while these friends say good bye, for now. And on the other side, excited new teammates are usually eager to welcome new additions, guys who will hopefully help their quest for a championship, often giving warm welcomes to these new trench-mates.

Move on to Friday night - the USA Basketball showcase. After a week of training camp, the national team's coaching staff held one last scrimmage to try to decide a 12-man roster from the group of camp invitees for the Basketball World Cup, but things took a dark turn early in the fourth quarter. Paul George was chasing down his probable Team USA teammate James Harden on a breakaway and fouled Harden as he tried to score. George's momentum took him toward the base of the basket, where his leg buckled as it collided with the base of the basket. George suffered a gruesome double, compound leg fracture. I haven't seen the video but am told one should avoid watching it - so no link provided.

As the coaches, medical personnel, and George's family rushed to his side, the players were utterly despondent. Harden was doubled over in disbelief and disappointment at what had happened as he drove to the hoop. Other Team USA players stood with their heads in their hands, bearing expressions of concern as well as confoundment. Meanwhile, the leadership of USA Basketball realized this was just a basketball game and ended the exhibition early. Given George's injury, there was no need to finish the game.

The leadership was also due to announce their final roster decisions on Saturday, but they postponed such announcements indefinitely, as news of George's injury and probable prognosis started to trickle in. Athletes flooded Twitter with prayers and thoughts for George, and the basketball world stopped worrying about cuts and competition for a minute.
While good ol' Mark Cuban exercised his right to free speech to suggest that the NBA needs to rethink a new model for their pros playing internationally, the Indiana Pacers (George's team) and the NBA Commissioner reiterated that this was an unfortunate accident and supported athletes' decisions to play for their countries in these competitions. It was neat to see such rallies of support for a player from all over, despite any rivalries on the court or competition for roster spots on a World Cup squad, alongside a nod to a player's desire to represent his country.

Finally, as the NFL inducted its newest Hall of Fame members this weekend, Buffalo Bills Wide Receiver Andre Reed treated the world to a beautiful moment. Reed gained great fame as half of a great dynamic duo with fellow Hall of Famer, Quarterback Jim Kelly. Kelly and Reed gave defenses fits with their precise short passing game, as Kelly zipped passes to Reed all over the field.

Kelly has reentered the news in recent years, despite being long retired, as he fights cancer. After receiving his diagnosis and having his cancer surgically removed, it recurred. Kelly underwent the usual intense treatments and is hopefully near a clean cancer-free scan again. Reed had Kelly up on stage during his HoF acceptance speech. He reminded listeners of the damage they did together on the football field : 12 + 83 (their jersey numbers) = 6 (points for a touchdown). And to commemorate the many times he had connected with Kelly in the passing game, he got Jim up from his seat and handed him a football.

Reed moved up the stage in a short pattern, and Jim threw him one more pass, a perfect strike. In a moment when Andre Reed stood next to a bronze bust of his head, a symbol of his football-earned immortality, he resisted the opportunity to give a lengthy, self-serving speech that gratified himself and honored few others. Instead, he recognized the teammate who helped him become great, and did so at a time when his friend was struggling. Far from a patronizing moment, Andre and Jim shared a genuine moment of friendship in a deep embrace on the Hall of Fame stage.
This hug - like the ones in baseball dugouts on Thursday - won't be their last. Sports bring people together in a way that few other things can. A group of people rallying around a common cause in support of another group of people can do amazing things. In sports, we love victory, loathe defeat, and rally behind people and stories that captivate us and uniquely unite us.

Our Church is the same way. There are times when the Church struggles, as we fail to live up to the calls of the Kingdom, whether in some of our priests' sexual abuse actions or in our own failures to live out our faith through regular prayer, worship, and service. But when we come together to pray and serve, when our leaders set the right example, we become capable of amazing things.

In these three moments, sports show us how moments of weakness and trial can become opportunities for us to be fully human and unite more closely with one another.
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