-Shawn Updike
The other day, I was walking around beautiful downtown Madison and my route happened to lead me into the shadow of historic Camp Randall Stadium. The facility is awe-inspiring, even without any game day festivities going on. Now while the sight alone is enough to make one fall in love, it was the event that took place across the street at a stoplight on an Early August evening, that really made an impact. A father and his son, both decked out in Badger red from head to toe, were at the crosswalk staring at the stadium as I approached. Now normally, yours truly would be listening to music far too loud in his earbuds. But on this particular day, I had thankfully forgotten my earbuds at home. Because of this, I was able to overhear an exchange between father and son. The son, who couldn’t have been more than 6, pointed and asked, “Daddy, is that where the Badgers play?” The father replied, “Yep.” The boy, obviously excited that he was correct in his assumption, followed up with, “When do we get to see them play?” The father, who I assumed was a little bit older than I, said with an almost identical excitement as his son, “Soon.” As I passed them, I awkwardly looked back over my shoulder to catch the end of this particular exchange, and saw a high five that may as well been in the UW-Badgers 2017 Gameday Program.
This moment shared between father and son, is just one of the many moments as to why sports will always hold a special place in my heart. Fathers taking their sons to a game, whether it was big or small. Friends hanging off the back of a car, grilling, consuming adult beverages (on occasion, probably too many), throwing sacks of corn towards a board in the Miller Park parking lot. Those moments are greatness, even if the game was less than great. I remember my apartment being filled to the brim during the Brewers playoff run in 2007. I remember sitting around in a friends apartment watching the Packers win Super Bowl 45. Countless Saturdays and Sundays have been spent with friends and family watching Badger and Packer football. And while remembering specific moments of each game is difficult, chances are there were positive memories made because sports brought us together.
“I’m writing this more as a letter akin to writing your lifelong love. A love that will push you to the point where you want to leave and never come back. But you do come back, time after time.”
With all the negativity we see surrounding sports, it’s hard not to be disillusioned towards sports and their athletes off-the-field problems. Recently, we saw Ezekiel Elliott be suspended by the NFL for six games after a completed investigation of Elliott’s involvement in various domestic violence allegations. We saw Ray Rice be suspended for his 2014 assault of his (at the time) fianceé. The NBA had to deal with one of their owners being outed as a bigot. Major League Baseball famously dealt with the steroids era that potentially washed away any positive memories of the sport in the late 90s into the early 2000s. College sports seem to be in the news every other week with some big-time program violating yet another NCAA policy. Other sports have also been afflicted by negative publicity towards their organizations and their athletes.
It’s far too easy to focus on the Elliott’s of the world. In this Social Media age we live in, mainstream media focuses on the negative. Unfortunately, negative news is popular and popular sells ad space. In our twenty four hour news cycle, ad sales are important. They pay the bills. They keep the news networks running. On the flip side of that coin, with all of this access to anything we want, we are able to seek out these stories. It’s just about learning where to look. Sports have survived because some have risen above to create the positive stories, and by doing so, revitalize those who are get overwhelmed by the negatives. (And also because they are multi-billion dollar industries, but that’s neither here nor there.)
“Parents taking their children to a ballgame. Kids playing little league in the park. All of this leads to a love for sports.”
One of these cases is Tim Tebow. There are two types of people in this world. Those who like Tim Tebow, and those who don’t. I fall into the former. And to be quite frank with you, I don’t understand why there are any in the latter category. Tim Tebow comes across as one of those incredibly genuine human beings who are incredibly rare in this world. Yes, he’s basically a SuperChristian, and this may rub people the wrong way. But that’s part of who he is. He created a craze that literally led to droves of people getting on one knee and fake praying. Yeah, praying. Two weeks ago, Tebow, while playing for the Mets High-A affiliate, walked out of the on-deck circle to greet an autistic 10-year-old fan and then subsequently smashed a three-run home run. This isn’t the only instance of something like this happening with Tebow. He has a history of being just an amazing individual.
Most recently, we saw Marcus Mariota stop to take pictures with a fan prior to taking the field before their preseason game against the New York Jets. He stopped and made these fans night a night that they will remember for a lifetime. Think about this. Mariota is 23 years old. He’s the face of an NFL franchise. He could have just as easily stopped to shake a hand, give a wave, a go about his business. But he didn’t. He reached out to these fans, and made a memory. Mariota comes off a quiet and reserved individual. He’s been called “too nice” to play in the NFL. But this stems from him not being as boisterous as his colleagues in the league. He plays the game the way it should be played. He goes out there, wants to win, but isn’t going to run his mouth or demean his counterparts or teammates when a “W” isn’t the result.
“And while remembering specific moments of each game is difficult, chances are there were positive memories made because sports brought us together.”
These are only two instances of athletes making an impact. There are probably too many to compile and put into one blog. I think it’s probably safe to say that countless athletes go unnoticed and make positive impacts which then go on to be positive memories. Memories that lead to a lifelong love of sports. And it’s not only the athletes making these impacts. Parents taking their children to a ballgame. Kids playing little league in the park. All of this leads to a love for sports.
I think it needs to be said that I’m not writing this to try and sway anybody to like sports who doesn’t already. Sports isn’t for all of us. That’s not what I’m here to do. I’m writing this more as a letter akin to writing your lifelong love. A love that will push you to the point where you want to leave and never come back. But you do come back, time after time. This is a guy thanking sports for all of the memories that have been made because of it. Playing, watching, listening, reading. It doesn’t matter. Sports make memories. Memories that are shared between a group of friends. Or just a father and son, taking a stroll, on an innocent afternoon.
-Shawn
#TEAMNOBODY
(cover photo credit: Anders Liu-Lindberg via Linked In)
Great article!! Sadly all the negatives that happen in sports are known for years but nothing is never done to stop it because it was making them money especially in MLB and NCAA.