I love sports, I love to play them, I love to watch them, I love to figure them out. I was never the most athletic of my friends, that role was reserved for those people who hit puberty before they were 17, but regardless I feel like I could hold my own. It wasn't until recently that I realized what sports really are, it wasn't until recently that I realized why I love sports so much, it is because they are a story within themselves. Let me explain before you get upset because you thought you were going to be reading about how awesome the Giants are and how great Peter was at Water Polo in High School but instead he has you reading about stories.
Every story has a beginning and an end, unless you are watching a little tale called, "The Never Ending Story," which by definition never ends (and if you have watched lately you know that Giant dog is nothing short of creepy, he is like a mixture of Clifford and the sadly misunderstood Boo Radley.) But all sports have character development before the actual game. Storylines that come into the game can be seen as the prologue if you wish, but this is whats going on before the actual story, the Hobbit to the Lord of the Rings, the Hide and Seek before the Wardrobe, the Peter and Sarah before the kids. It is what the characters are up to, what they have been through, their attitudes and idiosyncrasies.
This sets the stage for all things that are going to happen during the Event, (which I only watched the first 30 seconds of, and I have it figured out, they are rebooting the War of the Worlds franchise again.) Sports tell a story like few things do, and sometimes it is a great story, think about October 30, 1974 and the Rumble in the Jungle, or Rudy (and even though Joe Montana bashed Rudy a few weeks ago, I still weep every time I watch Sam Wise Gamgee get carried off the field).
Sports move us because of the stories that run through them. I am interested to tear more into this, what are your thoughts about stories and sports, how do they go together? What are some of your favorites sports stories?
No comments:
Post a Comment