Sports Metaphors - Tumblr Posts

Sports are so fucking weird, and the ONLY thing that keeps them from being a religion is the lack of a higher power or an afterlife.

You’ve got: rituals, sacrifices, superstitions, gatherings, songs, festivals, pilgrimages, fellowship, celebrations, talismans, idols. You’ve even got miracles.

These things seem to be more present in certain leagues than others—NCAA basketball and the English Football League come to mind for having teams, coaches, and fans who will go to extremes AS A COLLECTIVE, not just as individuals. They treat their local sports bar like a parish. They have their cathedrals and their songs and their holy-war rivalries.

I understand the inclination to not care. And in many ways, I don’t care either. (American football is a drag at ANY level, and all they’ve got by way of ritual is TAILGATING.) But if you’ve never celebrated a victory—one you truly cared about, one you prayed for—by dancing and singing in the streets with a couple thousand strangers, I recommend it.