If you google the word sport (hey look, my first plug), the wikipedia entry might be among the first few options. And if you click on that, you might come across the word's etymology in different languages and meaning to an equal amount of cultures. Near the top of the entry, you might see that the sports journalism departments of some news organizations used to be called, might still be called, the toy department. Like the domain of simple minds. And if you've gotten that far, it might occur to you to scroll down the entry and read the paragraph about the cultural significance as the topic has increased in overwhelming power and influence (how many commercials do you see a day that feature athletes or sports?).
As this is my first post on this ever-lengthening diatribe (if you're curious, I have other online writings), I thought to point some answers in the direction of possible questions. But I feel like the answer to a question about why write about sports is fairly obvious. A co-worker of mine loves soccer because it is what he calls a universal game. All a group of people need is a ball, and they can dribble the day away, running and screaming and laughing. People from third world countries can compete on even terms with people from the first. But that's only one reason. I like, no, I love sports because it is a universal paradigm. In any given contest, things like perseverance, courage, passion, and faith can be clearly realized, visible to both player and spectator. Things that we as people need to live, to thrive, that we struggle even to define are exemplified year round on a variety of different fields and courts on a multitude of levels. Somewhere, a middle-aged man is deciding whether or not to finally hang it up, staring himself in the mirror as if his own eyes will tell him how much he has left in the tank. Somewhere else, a young woman is performing the same ritual, except the questions she's being asked have to do with how good she could possible be if she only pays the toll. And the rest, before it becomes history, we get to witness.
So this is a re-introduction. Or maybe it's something new.
