Today I have awoken to a beautiful day. There is peace and tranquility in the land of Indiana. Last night the forces of good combatted the forces of evil and good won yet again. The Mighty Purdue Boilermakers have defeated the Evil Indiana Hoosiers in a game of…. BASKETBALL!!!!!!!! I watched this game before a large big screen tv, bowl of popcorn in lap with yells of jubilation. Tonight was a good night, and it will make today a good day. I am grateful that the Purdue Boilermakers have defeated the Indiana Hoosiers.
Gratefulness might not be the right word for Purdue defeating Indiana in a basketball game. I am glad Purdue won the game, I am a Purdue fan after all. I am grateful that sports let us be a little tribal and silly. I think sports wakes up some primal stuff that is stored in our souls. I think this is a good thing. Primal things let us feel alive.
Sports are full of surprise and pushing the human limits. These are both important to me. It’s good to push ourselves and see others push themselves. Few of us push ourselves enough. Surprises are also just so much fun, and sports offer us so many of those. This is some base human level stuff here, and sports brings it out.
In a world of digital and pretend, sports are still real. One team or person squares off against another person or team, then something real happens. We need a lot more real in this world. I’m grateful spots gets a little bit of that, along with a lot of fun.