We Need Sports Like Never Before

I like many people in this country, is still in a state of shock about the election a week or so ago. For the record this post has and will not ask you to choose a side, what’s done is done. With a president that has never been in politics, along with a racial divide in our country at an all-time high, I have concluded that we as a country we need sports like never before. Sports can be the greatest diversion from the problems we all encounter in our daily lives. As fans we cry together (see Jets, Knicks and Cleveland Browns) laugh and cheer together. As a diehard fan of the premier sports team in all of sports the New York Yankees, I cannot recall a time when a fellow fan did not reach out and high five a homerun or great play by a Yankees player. To say racism doesn’t exits is as silly as legendary Chicago Bears football coach Mike Ditka saying “there is no racism in America”.

This calendar year has given us two cities that were synonymous with painful heartache, gut wrenching sports losses in Cleveland and Chicago. Seeing fans of both the Cavaliers and Cubs brought to tears, hugging one another and rejoicing the color of a person’s skin did not matter. I do know that in sports hate has a place just like in life, if you’re a Jets fan, you do not like the New England Patriots, Red Sox fans do not like the Yankees (the NBA is a different story) those are sports rivalries. What is often overlooked is the fact that in most sports there is a simple gesture that shows individuals have respect for one another. After a NFL game, from coaches to players all shake hands, hug and even say a prayer after the game. Even in college basketball after a games in a sign of sportsmanship aka RESPECT they line up and shake hands, as well as hockey.

We need sports to give us have that feeling of being a part of a winning team (see Spurs, Patriots and Warriors) or get excited for the future (see Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Astros) and to hope for a better year next year (see Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns and New York Knicks). While not losing sight of the issues that affects our country, we need sports to bring us together. If we can root, sing and cheer for the same team it would make sense we get along. In closing, it really doesn’t matter the outcome of the election, what’s done is done. We need sports like never before to help us and teach us to love and respect one another! Help us sports!