Sports

So just recently I went to a baseball game (pictures are coming). I'm new to the Chicago area and my dad is simply visiting but still we had conversations with complete strangers over a team from out of state. And neither of us have ever lived in city that hosts the other team. Yet, we have a connection with those people. We were able to share our support for something that we had varied amount of interest in. Dad talked about history and recent seasons. We shared a chair with a group needing an extra. We talked tickets and awe at the cool stadium. We even had connections with people supporting the home team through this game. We had friendly banter with easy shots and nice returns. We talked to people who sat next to us, even the girls behind us who knew nothing about the game just because my dad had his glove and would protect them from a foul ball (we didn't get to catch anything, but we were ready).

But through all of this, I was struck by the realization of why we have sport teams and why they are an important part of our society. They bring strangers together. It's a common point to rally behind. And it's a topic devoid of any politic, socioeconomic leanings. It isn't tied to social beliefs, education, personal persuasions, gender, age, race, etc. All you have to do is watch and support a bunch of people play.

It's probably a remnant of our history as we had to come together to survive. It was us against nature and we were all on the same side. And then we grew a bit and it started to become us versus them. Groups against other groups, but within the group, members banded together over a common enemy and a will to survive. As we continued those groups became larger and the need to survive decreased. But we still have a longing to bond together over conflict. We want to share a common enemy with someone just so we can share with someone. Thus we have turned war into sports and factions into teams and through these substitutions we have our camaraderie and connection to other people, to otherwise perfect strangers.

Plus an excuse to drink beer outside in the sun.