I think sports gives us a lot of valuable life lessons about winning with humility, losing with dignity, hard work, camaraderie and teamwork.
I have loved and played sports my entire life; since I was 5 years old. I have been an Eagle, a Brave, a Giant, an Indian, a Roadrunner, a Rebel and a Spudder. It was only natural that my love of sports translated into a love of professional sports as I got older. Seahawks, Blazers, Dodgers, Huskies and Wildcats became my tribe to replace those teams I played on in my youth.
But then something happened and 30 years later sports play almost no role in my life. But why? What happened?
Somewhere along the way we lost those valuable lessons that sports give us. "It's not whether you win or lose; it's how you play the game." gave way to "Just win baby." College competition became big corporate wealth generation. Strikes, Steroids and Scandals, oh my!
For me it started with baseball and the first player strike. Once free agency opened the spending floodgates teams were able to buy an edge. It was no longer a level playing field. Competition suffered and baseball became distasteful to me so I stopped watching.
Next, the magical NBA teams of the late 80s and early 90s gave way to the rise of the individual. Isolation basketball, players choking out coaches, the JailBlazers and players changing teams in pursuit of the almighty dollar became the norm. So, I stopped watching.
As money and politics wielded more and more influence, even the almighty NFL started to lose me. The shunning of Kaepernick really made me question what sports stood for. If those values of my youth are no longer present in my sports today, why am I watching?
Kap was a hero for throwing a ball well and made millions for it. He protested violence and was fired from his job. What does sport stand for? We pay athletes huge sums of money while people starve and sleep in the streets. What do we as a people stand for?
Is it the tribe that still draws us in? Do we justify hating the 49ers because we are Seahawks fans? Do we justify Kap because he was standing outside "Team America"? Do we justify a noose in a garage because he's on the wrong team?
I still believe that a lot of the good in sports is still out there but as a former fan there is a lot required to win me back. For starters, level the playing field, protect your labor when they stop playing and bring back those fundamental lessons of our youth sports.
In the cosmic game of good vs. evil, it feels like sports is on the wrong side. I belong to God's tribe and on our team hate lands you on the bench.
It's not whether you win or lose; it's how you play the game.
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