Sports may not be your thing. But there are other parts of a full life that help shape who we are and connect us with others outside of our jobs and political views, like music and art. As Peter Wehner reminds us about sports, it’s not “just a game”:
Sports played at a high level is “only” a game in the same way the music of Ludwig van Beethoven or Bruce Springsteen is “only” music or the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and Claude Monet are “only” art.
Playing and watching sports with others often gives us a sense of rootedness and being anchored in a particular place. I’ve lived more than a quarter century now in the Washington DC area or overseas for most of my working career, but I still feel the connections formed to Philadelphia area sports teams that were formed when I was growing up and always will.
For sure, sports can come with some bad things like excessive drinking and gambling. There are also some toxic aspects of it that undercut a sense of community and foster divisions between people. But like most things in life, the positives outweigh the negatives if the game is approached with the right mindset and a balanced sense of proportion.
[It helps when the sports leagues don’t exploit their position to drive divisive political narratives. Yesterday was relatively free of that nonsense, which leads me to suspect that the NFL has realized its error. For now, anyway. — Ed]
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