Why We Love to Watch the Game

Since the 2013 Super Bowl, 31 NFL players have been arrested. One NFL player is awaiting trial for a murder charge. Recently, Major League Baseball has accused 20 players of using performance-enhancing drugs. In the National Basketball Association, there is reportedly an increasing amount of drug use and substance abuse. Particularly the NBA players are drinking lean, which is a mix of Sprite and Codeine cough syrup, and is commonly used throughout the NBA season. 

Sports Illustrated recently launched "The Dirty Game," which is a comprehensive look at Oklahoma State University's football program. It is now a big-time program that made a rapid ascent from 11 losing seasons out of 12 years to 10 consecutive winning seasons, including a Big-12 title and a BCS bowl game. Among other things, it is reported that drugs, sex, and academic misconduct were used to re-build the program.

It is no secret and veritably known corruption exist in sports at all levels. Humans are morally imperfect, and so are their institutions. This point was argued by the great German philosopher, Immanuel Kant. Kant once wrote, "out of timber so crooked as that from which man is made, nothing entirely straight can be carved." Meaning, everyone is not honest. Indeed, we are morally imperfect.

So, with a vast amount of corruption surrounding the sports world, why do we still love to watch the games? Do we give a blind eye to the corruption? I believe the answer is no. There is way more to sports than meets the eye. A rare, albeit brief moment, sports provide inspiration. In fact, it was even last night that reminded me why I love watching the NFL. The standing ovation for Peyton Manning was incredible. But there is a more remarkable story most people may not have heard. It is a story of courage, unity, tenaciousness, and love. It is the reason I love sports.

 Summerville, South Carolina is about 30 minutes outside of Charleston, South Carolina. It is where my mother and her family grew up. I already have fond memories of this small town, so this story of the 2007-08 Summerville High School basketball team is even more inspiring to tell.

 In June 2007, an enormous fire broke out at a sofa store in Charleston and ultimately killed nine firefighters, which one of them was Louis Mulkey, the head basketball coach for Summerville High School. The team used Mulkey's death as an inspiration. The team went on to a 24-3 season and ultimately winning the 4A State Championship. The team was led by the future NFL star and University of Georgia standout, A.J. Green. But my brief description of the heartening story does not bring justice to the actual events. Outside the Lines provided outstanding coverage of the story and I highly recommend watching it. 

So in a world where corruption exist at every level of every institution, it is important to remind ourselves of stories such as the Summerville High School basketball team. Stories such as this remind us that even if humans are imperfect, we show glimpses of inspiration and enchantment. It is not impossible to bring change. As Tommy Lasorda, the National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, once said, "The difference between impossible and possible lies in a person's determination." With this determination, the sports world can bring good and remind us fans why we love to watch the game.