sports and tragedy

I do not want to denigrate the role sports can have in easing pain after a tragedy. Not at all. Jack Buck had an amazing career as a broadcaster, but his best moment of all may have been in delivering the address to the Cardinals on the first night baseball returned after 9/11. We come together in sports in a unique way. It is not like a movie where we just watch passively. Since 90% or more of the people at a game are for the home team, a sporting event symbolizes a community pulling together. And it is good to step back and realize that the other team is just us also - yes, even the Lakers - but we get together and yell together and win together or lose together. Whatever sports is, in the hometown it is together. And so sports have a unique place in our society after tragedy.

That being said, I really don't need to hear the interviews of all the athletes about their families living in the South. It sucks for them, but it sucks for all of them. It is not a greater tragedy that Brett Favre's grandmother is stuck in the bayou than it is if Joe Schmoe's grandmother is. And another general truth is that athletes are not experts on anything other than athletics. There are exceptions of course - I surely would not argue that David Robinson, Muhammed Ali, and Arthur Ashe were not brilliant outside of their arenas. But in general, athletes aren't really that interesting talking about athletics. Getting them outside their expertise just makes it worse. Part of Jordan's and Tiger's genius as marketing entities is that they stay out of broader, more societal issues. Granted, there are better things in life to aspire to than being a marketing genius, but if you don't have anything to contribute, why open your mouth?

I watched Steve McNair of the Titans on Sportscenter tonight - not all of it, but a decent chunk anyway - and he was clearly uncomfortable. He had perspective - look, he said, my family is all alive. All of the things can be replaced, and so there are a lot of people a lot worse than we are. And he wanted privacy - does he really need to address his feelings when he couldn't get through to family? His answer was the same as what most any person would say - them telling me it is okay, don't worry, didn't alleviate much of the stress. I still need to see for myself. I will have this tension until I do.

Athletes have used their spotlight to talk in other areas forever, I reckon. The first presidential election I remember was 1980, and even George Brett was out campaigning that year. He picked the right - but losing - candidate, at least. But he didn't come across particularly intelligent in his support. He was a great ballplayer. His political acumen didn't measure up. I forgave him.

Sports will do their part to aid in the healing process without any help from the talking heads. I guess that is my only point. I didn't need to hear everytime I checked out the SC-UCF game that Tulane's football players and coaches have moved to SMU. That is wonderful of SMU, but what is being done for the thousands of students who aren't athletes? The announcers of the games were amazed that teams from the same conference were helping each other, sharing weight rooms. Huh? Do we have to think of each other so consistently as enemies on the playing field that we have this little perspective?

They are really just us. Even the Lakers are not enemies. Can we let that be a symbol for the way we deal with each other globally? We are all brothers and sisters on this little planet. We are all trying to live as meaningful a life as we can, shaped by our traditions and religions and societies. So let's allow sports to be our metaphor again, and take a step back, and see the interconnectedness of the earth and its people. We will still try to shove the ball down your throat, but we will be aware that we are brothers.