Sports, like life, are gutwrenching and can go from the highest of high's to the lowest of low's in a matter of second's. It's six in the morning, I haven't gone to sleep and I have been drinking all night. However, now is the time I have chosen to get online and discuss sports. To most people, sports are just entertainment, but the truth is that nothing in this world resembles the difficulties of life quite like sports.
About 12 hours ago I was tuned in to the Preakness, pulling for Barbaro to get the win and set up a Triple Crown possibility. It is a feat which hasn't been accomplished since 1979, but this year it seemed to be a distinct possibility because of the dominance Barbaro had demonstrated at the Kentucky Derby. Everything was going as planned until the horses entered the gates and Barbaro blasted through the high powered magnets prematurely. Although it had no effect on the actual outcome, it was a bad omen, something no one liked to see happen to the Kentucky Derby champ. After the race started Barbaro began as normal but soon had to be held up because of a hind leg injury.
Injury...the only possible thing in the world that could have stopped that horse from winning the race. The race continued on, but it just didn't seem the same, the horse everyone wanted to see was eliminated too soon. Instead of winning the Preakness and creating images of a Triple Crown winner, Barbaro is now just fighting to stay alive. From such a dramatic high comes a dramatic low. Things never go the way they are supposed to in sports, just like in life.
Love and the opposite sex are possibly the most difficult thing for a human to grasp. Even when you believe you have found true love, things go wrong and shatter your hopes. True love is giving up your everything and putting faith in something bigger than yourself. For the most part, people get burned for giving up their heart to someone else. A relationship you thought was meant to last forever ends in a terrible way, and your heart that you gave away is returned...shattered. Things never go the way they are supposed to in love and life, just like in sports.
But the same thing which makes life, love and sports so difficult, is what keeps us coming back for more. The chance that maybe we will see a team finally win after years and years of losing. Or finally seeing a horse win consecutive races that just seemed to difficult to do. Or maybe we will even find that one person in our life who we were meant to be with, the person who makes life worth living.
In the end all we can do is hope. All we can do is pour our heart, guts, soul and just about everything we have into what we love. The chance of our favorite team winning the Super Bowl or World Series or NBA championship may be slim, but we hope and have faith because that is all we can do. The chance of finding that one person in the world who was meant to be with you may be slim, but it is why we are here, and we have to fight each day as hard as we can.
There is nothing better than love and there is nothing better than sports. The ability to put faith in something we have no control over is what makes life truly worth living. Giving everything you have, hoping that in the end it will pay off, is the only reason to do anything in this world.
I have faith..........do you?