Sports Is Just a Game

By Jared Trexler

Pardon me if I ramble. They say writing can be therapeutic.

I sat watching the conclusion of yesterday's AFC Championship game thinking of a fairly popular, heartwarming story to tell.

The NFL and Race. Two African American coaches leading their respective clubs to the Super Bowl. It was a story within a game, and I love those.

I'm not a traditionalist. More a sentimentalist.

However, as I sat awake in my bed early this morning, I started relating to a story that can be told time and time again across America.

In my childhood with a mullet, sports ruled. Girls had cooties. I played tee ball and community league hoops. Soon I was part of a Little League champion -- game-winning hit right here -- and a high school hoops overachiever.

Golf was a passion. And girls still had cooties.

When my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the San Diego Chargers in the AFC Championship game during the early 1990s, I sat motionless for hours. My dad tried explaining to me, "It's just a game, don't get so upset over it."

Yet, I never listened. Sports to me wasn't a game, it was life.

However, as I watched Peyton Manning orchestrate an 18-point comeback yesterday evening, I began to realize something.

Sports is the ultimate rollercoaster. It entertains, provides excitement and pain. Yet, it doesn't CARE about you or me. A business never does.

It really shouldn't take priority over family. Friends. Relationships. Your dreams. Your hopes. Your fears.

As a kid, I thought the greatest joy ever experienced would be watching the Steelers win a Super Bowl. And believe me -- I was as happy as Bill Cowher and Jerome Bettis when the final gun sounded.

But it wasn't the greatest joy. Playing golf with your father. Spending a night on the town with friends. Just talking with mom. Learning your boxers really shouldn't be worn above the belly button. You should shave every day.

Those are the greatest joys in life.

Today, many sportswriters will write about two black coaches in the Super Bowl and another taking over a storied franchise at the age of 34.

However, upon further reflection, I realized the greatest stories don't happen on NBC or CBS. They happen in America's living room or on the phone.

Sometimes all of that is taken for granted. Shame on me, and shame on us.

People are life.

Sports is just a game.


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The Phanatic