It's Just a Game

"What's the big deal? It's just a game"

If you are a sports fan you have probably heard that phrase before, and I'm here to tell you that sports are a bigger deal than some people give them credit for. Sports are much more than a game. My love for sports is part of who I am. It's a borderline obsession. I know that I'm not alone. I know that there are others out there like me, and it's not a bad thing. It is not a character flaw.

Sports are emotional and can have a profound impact on our lives and society as a whole. If you don't think so, go ahead and Youtube Mike Piazza's home run for the New York Mets days after the 9/11 attacks and tell me it was just a game to those people in that stadium. It wasn't just a game to those people in Fenway Park after the Boston Marathon bombing as they listened to the unifying "This is our *bleeping* city" speech by David Ortiz.

Sports can make us feel the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Sports can unify strangers from all walks of life and can also divide friends and neighbors with the closest ties. Sports can be fiercely loyal or commit absolute betrayal. Whatever it is or whatever the situation, there is no denying that sports make us FEEL. That is what I love about them. It's magical.

Last night I sat down on my couch to watch the Los Angeles Angels, my favorite baseball team, play the Oakland Athletics. My wife had a work meeting so I was about to enjoy 9 innings of uninterrupted baseball viewing bliss. 

As the game progressed the Angels took a 4-2 lead going into the 7th inning and then all hell broke loose. Oakland's Rajai Davis came to the plate with 2 men on and promptly hit the ball down the first base line and careened off the glove of the diving Angels first basemen Marte and into foul territory. As two runs came across the plate to tie the game Kole Calhoun came sprinting in from right field picked up the ball and threw it to 3rd base to try and throw out Davis who was trying to stretch out a triple. Calhoun's throw bounced in front of the bag and ricocheted away from the third basement Yunel Escobar. Davis recognized the errant throw and sprinted home giving Oakland a 5-4 lead. Oakland scored again later in the inning making it 6-4 going to the 8th. I still had hope because the heart of the Angels order was due up in the 8th with Calhoun, Trout, and Pujols. Calhoun singled...we had life...or so I thought. Trout was called out on strikes and Pujols grounded into an inning ending double play.

Then something happened that I never used to do. NEVER. I turned off the TV. I left the game early. I gave up.

I turned off the TV and went into a cursing tirade about the team's failures and my frustrations. My wife looked at me and said "I think sports are making you an angry person."

I went to bed. She was right, I was angry.

I woke up the next day and found several notifications on my phone. The Angel's Danny Espinosa hit a go-ahead 3-run home run in the 9th inning. Angels won 7-6.

I'm ashamed that I gave up on my team. Ashamed that I got angry. Ashamed I didn't believe.

I did the same thing When BYU played the #1 ranked and undefeated Gonzaga Bulldogs in Spokane. BYU was a 20-point underdog. I went in to watching that game thinking there was no way the Cougars would win, but thought it would be incredible if somehow they found a way to do it. After BYU got down by 15 points in the first 5 minutes of the game I had seen enough. I turned off the TV again. I rushed  to turn it back on when I saw on my phone later that night that the game was tied late in the 2nd half. BYU won 79-71 and ended Gonzaga's undefeated season.

What happened to me!? Who have I become!? Turning off a game or leaving a game early is not something I do. To prove it I will tell you a story:

I attended a Salt Lake Bees game many summers ago. I believe I had just graduated high school. I was on a group date with two other couples. After a long night of baseball and awkward -hey I don't really know you that well but I will pretend to think what you are saying is interesting - conversation, we finally arrived at the bottom of the 9th with the Bees down by 2 runs. Everyone wanted to leave...except for me. They wanted to beat traffic because the "game was over" but I insisted that we stay. I tried to explain to them that if they could get a base runner the game was one swing of the bat away from a tie game. They didn't care. Everyone stood up and made their way up the aisle to leave the stadium. I stayed seated. It was as awkward as you can imagine. The girl I was with didn't know what to do because her friends (I have to emphatically specify that they were her friends, because my friends would have never been willing to leave early) were beckoning for her to leave too.

BASE HIT. Man on 1st, 2 outs.

I'm being a jerk at this point. I looked at her and said there is no way I am leaving this game. She reluctantly sat down with me to the disgust of the others.

Next man up hit a game tying 2-run homer. The rest of the group came back to their seats as I carried on about how "I told them so". It was awesome.

SIDE NOTE: Later in life I met a pretty girl that I thought was pretty awesome. Our first date was to a Utah Jazz game. Our second date was to opening night at the Salt Lake Bees. She didn't know that this was a strategic move. She had to know that sports was an essentially important part of my life. She never complained, said it was boring, or wanted to go home before it was over. She is now my wife.

Sports are magic. I have no other way to describe them. They make you feel things that only they can make you feel. Things happen in sports that shouldn't happen...what feels like impossible becomes possible. It's magic.

Just this past year we have witnessed things in sports that people wouldn't believe unless they witnessed it. For example:

- The Chicago Cubs came back from down 3 games to 1 and won the World Series for the first time in over 100 years

- The Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals for the first time. No team had ever come back from down 3 games to 1 in the Finals.

- The New England Patriots overcame a 28-3 deficit and beat the Atlanta Falcons in overtime 31-28 in Super Bowl XLI.

That was JUST THIS YEAR.

Think of all the amazing and seemingly impossible things that have happened in the history of sports.

The US Olympic hockey team beating the Russian Federation at the Lake Placid games. That was not supposed to happen. It was a bunch of young armatures for the Americans against seasoned veterans for the Russians. It was a miracle. It still gives me chills to hear Al Michaels yell "Do you believe in miracles!?"

I despise the Boston Red Sox. Hate them. However, their 2004 ALCS victory over the New York Yankees can't be described any other way than...magic. After years and years of heartbreak and the "Curse of the Bambino" staring at them right in the face, they were up to an impossible task: Down in the series 3-0 and behind by a score of 4-3  in the 9th inning of game 4 with the greatest closer of all-time, Mariano Rivera on the mound. Most people would assume the game was over...but it wasn't. 

Kevin Millar walks to lead off the inning. Dave Roberts pinch-runs and steals 2nd with the entire world knowing he was going to attempt it. Bill Mueller hits the game tying RBI single. David Ortiz hits a walk off homer in the 12th.

Ortiz went on to hit a walk off the next night. Schilling pitched the game of his life in game 6 with a bloody sock. Johnny Damon's grand slam in game 7. Sox win the series 4-3. Magic.

Game 6 of the 2011 World Series where David Freese became a sports legend in St. Louis. It is still one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed in sports.

"John Stockton sends the Utah Jazz to the NBA Finals!" will ring in every Utah Jazz fans ears until the end of time.

Tanner Mangum coming off his LDS Mission and improbably beats Nebraska and Boise St. on two ridiculous Hail Mary throws.

The David Tyree catch against the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl.

The music city miracle "There are no flags on the field! It's a miracle!"

Of course there are a countless number of examples of incredible moments in sports. These are the moments that give us goosebumps. Moments that make us cry, feel disappointed, or heartbroken just to turn around and make us feel elation, excitement, and joy. Moments that help us, for maybe just a moment, forget about things happening around us in the world. Forget about problems that we are having, whether it be serious or trivial. Forget about the political climate in the country. Forget about the bad things that happen in the world, and come together to experience something...magical.

Two summers ago I decided to take my family to Disneyland. It is known by many as the happiest place on earth. A place full of magic. Little does everyone know that the most magical place on earth is just a short 5 minute drive away.

The day before we went to the Disney parks I decided to go to an Angels game by myself. My wife stayed at the hotel with our 3 year old and 4 month old boys because we decided they weren't quite ready for the big leagues. I won't lie, it was odd being there alone and surrounded by strangers. I felt like the people around me were trying to figure out who the weirdo was that was sitting by himself. 

The Angels were playing the Boston Red Sox and it was a defensive battle. Tied 0-0 in the bottom of the 9th Mike Trout came to the plate...

I was a grown man that felt like a little kid. I imagine I felt like my 3 year old son did when he met Mickey Mouse for the first time the next day. I was giving high-fives to the same complete strangers that probably thought I was a crazy person. In that moment it didn't matter where you came from, what ethnicity you were, what your economical status was. In that moment everyone was the same.

A similar experience happened when me and my sweet wife traveled to Miami to go on a cruise. Of course I planned to arrive a day early so I could get to a Miami Marlins game, a vacation move my wife has come to anticipate. As we took our seats my wife befriended a couple that was seated next to us. The man was from Cuba and one of the most interesting people I've ever met. He had a story for everything from Deer hunting with former Marlins pitcher Josh Beckett (he had photographic evidence) to telling us about his son that works in accounting for Disney. We talked to them about our families, careers, goals, their hatred for the owner of the Marlins (which is a shared hatred among the entire Marlins fan base), and future plans we had. He recommended a Cuban restaurant for us to visit after the game. However, what I truly took away from talking with this man was that he wanted us to love his city and his team as much as he did. Our experience at the stadium was important to him.

Every time Giancarlo Stanton came to the plate I would take out my phone and begin recording, hoping that he would crush a homer. He didn't his first 3 at-bats. During his final at-bat in the 8th inning I did the same. Phone out. Recording. Our new friend yelled out to Stanton to "hit a home run for the Utah people!" and what do you think happened next?

Yep. Home Run Stanton. Deep to left-center. Magic.

I will never forget that experience because of how it brought people together who couldn't be more different. Backgrounds, religion, ideas...all different. What was common? Sports was common...and that's all that mattered.