What the Unifying Power of Sports Can All Teach Us

Sports; life wouldn’t be the same without them. From the gladiator matches of Ancient Rome to primetime NFL Sunday matchups, sports have been around for 1000s of years and will continue to dominate the entertainment landscape for years to come. Because of sports, millions of friendships have been forged through the power of sport, and a million more will be generated in the coming years.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, is that sport has a way of bringing together the unlikeliest of people. For example, when I was in elementary school, most of my friends were made on the soccer field during recess, or on the basketball court at lunch; people with which I still keep in touch today and respect their friendship. Sport has a funny way of doing that.

Or how about the little child whose face lights up when his dad tells him he has tickets for tomorrow night’s game? I was once that kid, and I remember how I couldn’t even sleep the night before because I was so excited about what was coming the next night. Sports feed our imaginations when were young, and it carries us through into our adolescent years and into adulthood.

I’ve seen businesses model their infrastructure after football teams, others training staff like their athletes, all the while maintaining the competitive business hunger similar to that of a professional sports franchise. Yes, make no doubt about it; at the end of the day, the professional leagues are all in the entertainment business, here to make as much money off of us as possible. But that’s just the way business works, every single business you ever see is centered around the same motto.

That is why I have to chime in when I hear people say that sports are “just a business”. Not really. A laundromat is just a business (a mighty fine one with excellent profit margins at that), a vending machine route is just a business ( another mighty fine one), but sports is not “just another business”, it’s so much more than that.

Sports put a smile on the faces of billions of children all around the world, kids who grow up wanting to play soccer like Lionel Messi or dribble like LeBron James. It gives teens an outlet for their angst and allows them to develop social skills along the way, as well as learn to be part of a team and leadership qualities. It gives adults an entertainment outlet when movies and TV just aren’t doing it.

Sports ignites a fire within us called passion, a spice of life that makes everything taste better. Without it we’re just zombies walking the earth, waiting for the day we meet our maker. I for one need that zest in my life to keep this engine going, and I know you fellow sports fans are very much the same. My deepest appreciation for reading.