Athletics as a story.

I by no means am an athlete. I enjoy playing basketball and there was a time when I knew my way around a soccer ball. On the other hand I have never been a sports "fan". At the risk of sounding cliche' the most engaging portion of the superbowl for me were the commercials. Occasionally, if it was close, I would be engaged. Other than that consider me uninterested. I'll hang out at the food table waxing eloquently about Plato or Lady GaGa.

Like some people can reference a particular person's RBI's for a certain season or how many National championships some one has. I could tell you when the beatles released the white album (1968), but ask me anything related to stats a glaze comes over my eyes and I think of other more interesting things, Lady GaGa for example.

As I have gotten older the narrative of Sports has interested me. Specifically, baseball. It is America's past time. Nothing sums up a classic summer day than a Hotdog, a cold Beer, and an afternoon at the BallPark. Historically, there is so much connected with it, Civil rights, Scandal, Human fortitude. All of these things make for a great novel. Ken Burns the Documentarian spent 10 volumes exploring the history of the sport and I was enamored. After watching that documentary, I sat down infront of the television to watch a complete baseball game. I waited for the something inspiring to happen. A triple play, a great outfield catch, diversity being overcome...

Nothing.

So much nothing in fact that I fell asleep in the third inning. I did not miss much considering when I woke up from the baseball induced slumber, the score was the same.

I can think of one time I was completely engaged in a baseball game. A few years ago, the Red Sox won the World Series. You may or may not have heard. It was not that big of a deal. But, it was after years of heartbreak after heartbreak. The curse of the Great Bambino was Broken.

When the Red Sox started their series, that seemed doomed. I was watching with a friend from undergrad. He was raised on the Red Sox. He had followed them for years. Given years and years of dedication to them as a fan. I happened to be at his house for the first loss. I continued to come over for the next two losses. The next game they won. I immediately smelled a story. I said things like, "They can do it, they could win!" Nate, the Boston fan, immediately communicated the the wall before them. No one in any sport in the history of athletics had ever come back from a deficit like that.

Slowly but surely, It happened.

I had nothing to base my prediction on. In my selfish desire to see a story on the field I believed it could happen. When they won, Nate, the Red Sox fan, I looked at him and he was in tears. He had been waiting his entire life for that moment. It happened in his lifetime and he was there to experience it.

Following sports as closely as Nate, or as many others do, it becomes a story. Watching these men or women perform at the highest level of sport is second to none. The olympics is a great example of this. Individuals who 50 weeks out of the year work at Home Depot and train for one event and perform on a world stage and bring home the gold. It's enough to bring the coldest person to tears.

Sports/Athletics allows people to enter into a larger Meta-narrative. A little boy playing T-ball is participating in something larger.

I'm not ready to start memorizing stats but, I am ready to give my allegiance to a team.

Los Angeles Dodgers.

I have t-shirt. Nothing says dedication like a t-shirt.