Add new comment

of sports that doesn't quite fit into either hope or admiration, but still brings a tremendous amount of joy is Connection.  Connection with family, friends, and strangers alike.
I attend Oregon State Beaver sporting events quite often and it is one of my favortie things to do with my Dad.  One of the most vivid things I remeber about the incredible upset of USC last year wasn't Greg Layborn intercepting Sanchez' pass and sealing the game, it is the 3 solid minutes that my Dad and I held each other jumping up and down screaming and laughing like little school girls as Gregg Layborn intercepted that pass, and not feeling the least bit self concious about it.  In fact I will also never for getting the two fellow sitting next to us (Bill and Chris) who even though we only knew in passing we were also hugging, high fiving and screaming with.
One of the things I truly enjoy about sports is it washes almost every sterotypical aspect of another person away (except for their fanhood) and lets complete strangers, people who would otherwise never associate with each other (like a young weatherologist from New York and an older umm... what do you do as a day job Dr. D? chess player from Seattle), and allow them to connect on a real, deep, emotional level.
In fact I would say that connection is a PREREQUISITE for me to watch a sporting event.  I am not one that can just watch a game alone, I either have to have someone physically with, chatting with someone on line, or at least thinking of the things I will chat about with someone after the game.