Why We Watch Sports

So, how’s your bracket? President Obama went 14-2 yesterday. He’s a real Baraketologist. But when it comes to presidential sporting quotes, check this one out from JKF: “We are inclined that if we watch a football game or baseball game, we have taken part in it.”

Every wife, sister, daughter, and mother of a sport fan should have this quote stuck to their fridges. Ladies, it sums up why we men watch sports.

Playing and watching sports has always been a huge part of my life. If there’s a big game on the flat screen, odds are I’ll be watching. This time of year, nothing’s better than the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament that tipped off yesterday. For the next three weeks, I’ll be taking in the tourney hoping to see something close to the excitement of last year’s championship game.

Remember the shot? In last year’s finale, upstart Butler University nearly upset the Big Bad Duke Blue Devils. Butler’s Gordon Hayward almost sank a half-court shot at the buzzer that would have won the game. Had it gone in, I think we would have seen the single greatest sports moment in history.

For my sister’s sake, let’s break down the play.

First there’s the shot: Half-court shots are for the playground or games of H-O-R-S-E. They go in about as often as Steven Tyler shops at the Gap. They’re dramatic. They embody desperation. The ball is in the air long enough to allow everyone in the crowd to take a deep breath, say a prayer, and pack up their souvenirs to go home.

Then there’s the scenario: It was the CHAMPIONSHIP Game. It was the ending to 65-team playoff for all the marbles. Football games have ended on Hail-Mary bombs, but never the Super Bowl or even a playoff game. Plenty of basketball games have ended on last second three-pointers, even in the NBA Finals, but not a Game 7. And not a half-courter.

Then there’s the teams: This was BUTLER, a team from a non-major conference vs. perhaps the top college basketball programs of the last 25 years. Had Butler won, it would have been a huge upset. Duke was playing in its eighth championship game since 1986. Butler wasn’t a total slouch. The Bulldogs were 33-5 and ranked 11^th heading into the tournament. But schools like Butler don’t win this tournament. We’ve seen our share of Davids toppling their Goliaths, especially during March Madness. But these Cinderellas always run break their glass slippers before the title game.

The most famous sporting upset ever is arguably the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team’s “Miracle on Ice” win over the mighty Soviets. But even that one didn’t end on a desperation slap shot from center ice. That whole hockey game was a miracle. Plus it was a semi-final, not the Gold Medal match.

Baseball over the years has had its share of dramatic moments. Home runs have ended playoff and World Series games. On two occasions homers have ended the World Series itself. But I think Hayward’s Heave would have topped them all. A home run takes a lot of skill. I’m not stepping to the plate and smacking a home run anytime soon. But I could challenge Gordon Hayward to a half-court shot contest and hold my own. Out of ten shots each, we’d both probably sink zero. Half-court shots require about as much luck as they do skill.

So, factoring the luck, the timing, the pressure, and the storyline, Gordon Hayward almost achieved the greatest single sports moment in history. Hayward, now a reserve for the Utah Jazz would have been famous. Books and blogs would have toasted his shot. He would have been king of the talk show circuit. Too bad that “almost” only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Whether it’s the NCAA Basketball Championship or a rec league softball game, all athletes want to be the hero, to be the one to win the game with a final shot, hit, throw, or catch. It’s why we play.

It’s also why we watch. With each televised sporting event, viewers are reliving their childhoods, battling former competitors, dreaming dreams, hoping to be heroes like Gordon Hayward nearly was.

One shining moment at a time.