jenniferbrola.com

I'm not really big on professional sports.  I used to follow basketball back when the Hornets played in Charlotte, but Shinn gave in to greed and broke up the family.  Consequently, I have no emotion when it comes to the Bobcats.  If you mention the Flyers, though, I feel all warm and happy inside...but I feel the same way about Philadelphia in general, so it makes sense.  Yes, I do think the Eagles are an interesting bunch (though it's more the spectacle the beast), but if I ever actually attend a game I'll go pop in at the Panthers' Stadium.  They've been there for over 10 years now...I haven't been to a game.

I don't know why I'm apathetic about professional sports.  I used to actually be really into athletics.  In high school, I was on the crew of every major women's team - softball, volleyball, soccer.  I remember every semester, Coach Ringer and/or his staff would transform the high school cafeteria into a "banquet" hall.  My parents and I would come to slurp spaghetti and hear how well my peers performed that season, along with anecdotes and funny "road trip" stories.  Trophies were given out to student athletes, and letters (or pins) distributed to varsity players and their managers.   I never sat through an entire football game, though...not even in college. 

I think I'm just seriously turned off by the conduct of the players and their acolytes.  Our society has put male athletes (football and basketball players especially) on an ever-ascending pedestal.  Yes, they put in a lot of physical and mental work (memorizing plays), and they endure intense amounts of social pressure.  Those qualities, though, are not unique to sports.  The media describes the talented few as modern-day warriors, as if to justify their expectations of adoration, their sense of entitlement.  Our real warriors, though, are underfunded and underreported right now in the sands of Iraq.  Where's their free Escalade?

The question then remains...will I be watching Super Bowl XL this weekend?  I thought the answer was going to be easy.  Stepping back, I don't know how many of those sports banquets I went to during my high school years, but it's safe to say I went to quite a few.  One name came up frequently next to words like integrity and academic excellence - Chris Hope - and as luck would have it he'll be playing on Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I wouldn't say that I was friends with Chris; at that time, our school was exploding with over 2000 students.  But I believe we crossed paths a few times.  If everything I know and have read is true, he continues to be the exception to the rule...and for that reason, I'll proudly be a Steelers fan (for a day).