This was a post on ND Central, thought it was good and that I would share.
My prayers go out to Declan Sullivan and his family. This has been a horrific tragedy, and it really puts things into perspective. What I am about to say, I say with the utmost respect to Declan Sullivan and everyone that was close to him. Jack Swarbrick said that it does not matter if the game against Tulsa is a victory or not…that showing respect to Declan Sullivan is all that matters. Losing a life is more important than the outcome of a football game. I agree with all of that, but I would like to put some perspective on football and sports in general. In all of our lives, we have outlets. We do things outside of our daily work and family responsibilities that make life…more enjoyable. Some people are into art. Some people are movie aficionados. Some people like hunting, and some people get into music. My outlet, for as long as I can remember, has been sports. Having been born and raised in the state of Minnesota, I follow all things Minnesota concerning sports, with the exception of Notre Dame football. When it comes to my favorite team, it’s not even close. The Irish are number one and everyone else is a distant second. I started watching the Irish with my dad when I was a small child. He liked Notre Dame because they combined excellent academics with superb athletics. Because he and my mother divorced when I was very young and I was his only child, it was just the two of us, and I remember that he looked forward to every Saturday when we could watch the Irish. I swear, it was those times that we shared together that kept him from losing it immediately after the divorce. Like me, sports was his outlet from his life. He was able to forget about all the negativity, at least for a few hours. Now, I’m a 31-year-old professor. At the beginning of the semester, a colleague of mine died. A week later, a student of mine died. And, a week after that, another colleague died. The bad news was everywhere I looked, and I just wanted something to take my mind off of it for a few hours, and that was the Irish-MSU game. Needless to say, after the game, I nearly exploded. My only outlet, sports, failed to provide that relief. In fact, it added to my grief. Shortly after the game, before going to bed, I thought about all the bad things that had happened in the past three weeks. I said to my wife, “Do you think I will live long enough to see another championship from any one of my teams?” I could wake up tomorrow and something tragic could happen. I haven’t seen a championship victory from one of my teams since ’91 when I was 12 (Twins WS), and before that I was 9 (ND over WVA in the Fiesta Bowl). My point is, the reason why we get so heated and excited over sports is because many of us need sports to help us get some release from the stresses of life, and if our teams disappoint us, the stress builds. Now, I know that you might be thinking that I need a new outlet…one with a higher success rate. Unfortunately, I can’t; just like all of us can’t switch allegiances from the Irish to another team. It’s loyalty. It’s part of us. I really do hope that the Irish win on Saturday, and, like every time the Irish lose, I will be crushed if they don’t win. I know that life, health, and family are more important than sports, but sports, for many of us, is what makes life great, not just good.
I totally agree! Man, we GOTTA win.
