Sports: Is it your cup of Tea? for many yes it is.

I asked the Idea of getting rid of sports. No one seemed to care if BYU got rid of organized sport. One Recent Convert asked me if they'd get rid of sports because we "suck". So not much of a response. I personally wouldn't care that much, I've been to one football game in my entire college experience in which I left after about 40 minutes of watching the men in blue move a few feet, then stand around for 1 minute or so, then the game would continue for another 15 seconds, then the game would be on pause for a minute or so again... and then another 15-20 seconds of play, and then they'd wait around for a minute. Only briefly would there truly be moments of awesomeness where a sweet play would take place, but mostly just a bunch of large men grabing and holding each other in tightly fitted pants. It was boring.
I can understand for so many people if they didn't have sports what else could they possibly do with their time? I mean seriously, we pay to watch other people do stuff, and more than that, to watch them wrestle for 16-20 seconds and then rest. Might as well watch WWWE At least there's some fake drama involved in that and the wrestling goes on longer than a minute. Yeah so many people would have to find other ways to feel connected with their fellow peers and school. Maybe they'd do better in school by focusing on education more. or maybe they'd get to know other people better. But I suppose not, since sports is the best way to meet girls & boys. Becuase when it comes down it isn't really about the sport or the game, there's more to it than that. There's semiotics behind even this. Some primal urge to be the best, even if we're not actaully part of it. By being there when we win, we can boast and say we won. Even though it wasn't you, there pushing the ball towards the endzone. But we believe that we had a part in it, when we're their, and we see others there, so we feel like we're a community raising our flag.
Or maybe because we feel that sports is a symbol of our power, & or prestige, The media is overly saturated with sports, So if the media is showing sports on all channels than it obviously is extremily important, and something to be desired.
On a more positive note, it could be the struggle, we are drawn to, seeing men, strive for perfection, for a common goal, to achieve the outcome. Everyone wants to succeed, and when we see people overcome obstacles it is inspiring, and gives ourselves courage to overcome the obstacles in our lives. Maybe that has something to do with why so many watch sports.
I love the Olympics. and not because we win alot of medals. But because of the dedication of the athletes, the idea of overcoming adversity, being in Harmony with the world, and striving for excellence, the Human will to acheive greatness. I love seeing the honor and pride from the athletes representing their country. What an honor. I find it inspiring to see an individual work hard and despite finishing first or last, seeing them finish with pride knowing they did their best for their country and were a part of the historic olympics. I like seeing what it does to those who watch. When Dan Jansen won the speed skating comp after falling 3 olympic games in a row. Seeing the young Kerri Strug with an injured ankle run and jump over the pummel horse despite the pain she was in, because Her country needed her to. Those are the victories, the stories that I like to see. Not the superficial rivalries that we make up in our minds to make ourselves feel important, or the ones the local media perpetuates throughout so they have more interesting news stories. Maybe they don't really do that, but I sometimes feel their's an angle to every story to make it more interesting.
I think people would be sad if sports left BYU, because we do realize there are principles that are learned from sports. and it does give people an identity and ability to relate with others. I for one would maybe be sad, but not really since I was to busy doing things instead of watching others do stuff.