It's 3rd and long, 5 seconds left, quarterback takes the snap and drops back for the hail mary........
Your team is down by 1 and there's 2.5 seconds left on the clock and the inbounds pass is to you.....
And it happens on the high school level as well.....Logansport Game
How many kids have played out these exact scenarios time and time again in their backyard, at the playground courts, or alone in the gym? (I know I did! I played out those 3...2...1 shoot scenario hundreds of times.) How nervous do we get as spectators watching our favorite team go down to the wire and the win depends on one last play? (Who remembers Drew Brees heave down the field vs Ohio St the year we went to the Rose Bowl?) How excited do we get watching a commercial like this one from Dick's Sporting Goods? Untouchable How high do sports movies rank on your list of "must sees"? Hoosiers, Rudy, Remember the Titans, Miracle, and the list goes on. Personally, they rank really high! I'm a sucker for those underdog sports movies. I know more than likely what's going to happen but I still love seeing it every time. What about you?
What is it that draws us to sports? Either the playing or watching? As athletes, young and old, the preparation we undergo and the pre-game routine we go through and the thrill when the ball is kicked off, first pitch is thrown, or the tip off all excites something deep within us. I played 2 sports in high school and then continued with intramurals while at Purdue (indoor and outdoor soccer, basketball, etc). (My little known "what if" was if I'd gone to a smaller school and seen if I could have played there.) I think if I hadn't gone towards the animal side of things, I would have gone towards sports. How many have a favorite team and when you talk about them, you say "us" and "we", like we're a part of the team or we belong even though what we do has no impact on the team.
I think part of what draws us in is that the outcome is not predetermined. Anything can happen and it truly isn't over until the final buzzer sounds. There is always hope. Maybe that's what we're wanting. And it's a lot about the work you put into the preparation. In a world that expects everything to be handed to them, the sports arena is one of the last places where it isn't (usually!) handed to you but you have to work and prepare and train. Obviously, potentially, it doesn't guarantee a win but at least you'll know you tried. I don't know but there's definitely an allure, an attraction, a draw to sports. To confirm this look no further than the madness beginning this weekend with the bracket pairing for the NCAA tournament. Why do YOU think there's an allure, a passion within a lot of us while watching, playing sports or watching those stirring commercials?
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