Words of Comfort

If you know someone in Detroit this morning, reach out to them. See if they are ok and offer some words of comfort, for their hopes have been dashed. The Lions season ended in familiar fashion last night. It was, yet again, the final scene from Mission Impossible. Tom Cruise ripped off his face mask to reveal it was SOL (Same Old Lions) underneath the whole time. 

In these difficult moments we must neither be dismissive of poor play nor needlessly optimistic about the future. Rather, let us remember why we gather here.

We live in divided times, times where bitter feuds and bubbling hostility push us apart. However, sports have the power to bring us together and unite us in a common purpose. Black and White, gay and straight, Republicans, Democrats, women, men, Jews and Gentiles, we are all Lions fans for a night. In this joining together we are reminded of the true purpose behind professional sports: to yell mean things at a bunch of millionaires in a socially acceptable atmosphere. 

Going to a game is participation in communal heckling of rich, beautiful, successful people. Coaches, players, referees, announcers, and celebrities are not being paid to put an inflated pig bladder in a colorfully demarcated endzone. They’re not being paid to “win”. They’re being paid to receive our hopes and dreams, our previously hidden resentments and the disappointments we sometimes have with our own lives. We can let it all out, at the top of our lungs, along with tens of thousands of like minded individuals. And no one will judge us for judging them. 

We’re watching people do things we could never physically do, be mentally stronger than we could ever possibly be, endure pressure we could never possibly endure, while eating a plate of soggy overpriced nachos. We’re at a safe, comfy distance and given a chance to tear down others to build ourselves up. Never forget, this is the REAL magic of sports.

So don’t be sad Lions fans. The NFL is merely a more expensive version of the State Fair. A version where they let you scream obscenities at a prize winning cow for a full sixty minutes. The ferris wheel goes round and round, but the experience of catharsis and connection lasts forever.