Our Best Friend, Sports

Author: Jake Rabbanian

Sports play a tremendous role in the world. Whether someone either played pee wee football or little league baseball; sports teaches many people important characteristics for life. When I was in high school, I was made starting goalkeeper for the Varsity team as a Sophomore. The position came with a lot of commitment and responsibilities since I was a young teenager playing with older kids. To make a long story short, I had a huge fallout with the coaches over our lackluster and terrible defensive line that allowed numerous goals to be scored on me during many games, which resulted in me taking off the goalie gloves and strapping on a helmet and playing Varsity football both my junior and senior year. My decision to quit soccer and join football was something out of the ordinary; I had never even played organized football let alone two-hand touch. I knew I had to bulk up for the season, so the summer going into my junior year I was committed to hitting two a day at the gym, along with our daily summer training football regiment my team would do to prepare for our Fall season. I went from weighing 145 to 185 and eventually reached 210 pounds in my senior year. I exhausted myself with this daily routine, but I didn’t care, I was hungry and determined to be a damn good football player. As I began my first year as a football player, I was named starting outside Linebacker and backup Fullback, which isn’t bad for a first-year football player. In addition to the grueling training and dieting I had endured before and during the season; I made genuine friendships with a ton of my teammates and shared a bond and mutual respect that will never be broken between us. Football is one of, if not the hardest sport to play in the world. Every single person on the field has a job to do, and if that job is not done correctly, the entire operation of gaining yards or stopping anopponent can be failed. During the season, my coach would always be saying, “I am teaching you to learn how to commit to something now, so you can stay committed in the future,” after my coach would say this, my eyes would always roll and I’d say to myself “What the hell is the bozo saying?” As soon as I played the final game of my high school career, I looked back on all the training I had gone through to be a good player, and I can proudly look back on my coaches words and say that football and sports in general teaches kids of all ages valuable characteristics of commitment, dedication, and responsibility.

To go along with the comradery I was grateful to have between my teammates, sports creates unity and enjoyment for people of all ages. Not only do teams with better unity or teammate chemistry perform better, but unity amongst the fans plays an even bigger role. In the world of sports, fans across the nation follow, obsess, and enjoy watching their favorite teams and athletes display their tremendous amount of athletic ability. I remember watching the 2010 NBA Finals as a Lakers fan against the Boston Celtics. I was sitting in a room of about 50 people along with friends and family and erupted in cheer as soon as the clock hit zero and Kobe threw the ball in the air to celebrate his fifth championship ring. This championship was by-far the greatest championship I have ever witnessed as a Lakers fan since they completed getting their revenge on the Boston Celtics after losing to them in the 2008 NBA Finals. Moments like these are unforgettable. In addition to being united with your fellow fans, sports play a significant role in establishing national unity. In the world of sports, there are no Democrats or Republicans, but it allows people to put their differences aside and enjoy the entertainment of whatever league they follow. The revival of the NBA, MLB, NFL, and Soccer leagues will play an extremely important role as fans need sports now more than ever.