The Devil In Sports

The Devil in Sports


Why do we, as fans get so worked up about sports?
This past week has been rough for the locals. LSU loses the
National Championship game and the Saints losing in the NFC playoffs.
We (I’m not speaking for others – but assuming) get worked up
and spin ourselves into a tizzy.
For what? For sports.
There is a fine line between getting worked up and … well,
getting worked up. A fine line between being a fan and a failure. A fine line between
excitement and anger.
Is it ok to get excited?
To get mad or angry when things go wrong. Should we sit back and let it
build inside?
Who knows? I don’t. But I do know that anger and getting close to
tipping that cup can hurt others and lead to things people can regret.
The problem with getting too excited is that the more you get
to the edge of that spectrum, the closer you get to being angry if things don’t
go well. Then the chances of hollering and cussing and getting so stressed – it
can make you bust.
When you have extreme passion in a team – in a sport – that is
ok. But when is it not ok? That passion – in certain events can steadily turn
into anger.
That is why I titled this The Devil In Sports. The devil
wants us to fly off the handle. He wants us to go on a cussing rampage. He
wants us to waste our energy on getting aggravated.
Let’s take the recent Saints game. Up and down emotions. The
Saints take the lead late – they got this. Then they let the other team take
the lead. Stress but excitement. Then the Saints take the lead with a quick TD
strike. We got this. Then out of nowhere, the other team scores with 9 seconds
to go. Even if – in most cases the Saints win, the emotions brought out when
things looked bleak – or when a stupid play happened – everyone feels better.
But can the negative words or thoughts that came out during the bleak times
just go away? No.
So, in sports My emotions have gone to over the top status. If
you are reading this, please don’t think I am a maniac and get pissed off every
time I watch sports, but as a man, as a husband, as a father and as a grandfather,
I am not afraid to admit that I am not the best when my team does bad. Once
when I was a kid, the Dodgers lost to the Cardinals in the NLCS. All I wanted
to do was get my pellet gun and go shoot Cardinals in the woods.
So, to the point of this…
There are so many more important things to spend our Energy
on. I didn’t say time, but energy. In energy I mean the stress we spend on sports.
The excitement will always be there. But like the duck – I will
try to let stuff in sports roll off the back.
When I think of hurts like Baby Tripp. The 2 year old hero
who had Epidermolysis Bullosa. He passed away yesterday.
Kids who go hungry every day. Kids who have no homes. People
who lose in life – lose loved ones, etc. People who succumb to abuses of drugs
and alcohol and hurt their loved ones and themselves.
Families devastated by cancer and other terminal diseases.
Families who are devastated by untimely deaths.
There are so many worthy causes and issues we can stress and spend
time about. Causes and people we can spend our time and energy on.
Sports should not be one of them.
Watching and loving sports will always be a part of the world
and part of me, but the anger and upsetting moments when the favorite team
loses, hopefully won’t be a part of me.
We shall see. I get a little reprieve with hoops. I love
basketball, but don’t seem to get stressed about it as much as LSU and dodger
baseball – or football.
Time will tell, hopefully I…we.. can concentrate on the
important things in life and let a loss or bad play roll off the back.