Why I enjoy sports. Which sports do I prefer, and why? What I dislike about the sports environment. What would I change?

To tell you the truth, I do not know exactly why I enjoy sports to the extent that I do. I can give you reasons and excuses;  I cannot guarantee where the truth lies fully and where it is pure conjecture.

Here's a list, in no particular significant or comprehensive order, of what I derive from following sports (and why) and those who form and create them:

1. It allows me to participate, actively or passively, in sporting events vicariously that bring me in co-participation with dozens, hundreds, thousands or millions of unseen others. And later, hours, days, months or years after, I can celebrate with or commiserate with those co-participants, or, at least come to a shared moment with those future (or past) others. I can also recount the stories and entertain countless others, including myself, in idle or even trying moments of tested will or duress, on busy or slow days, eventful or "regular" weeks. 

2. I identify with the effort and skill with which the athletes attempt their skills and pursuits. They inspire me; they remind me of who we all are.

3. As a teenager it filled some voids that I believe were missing in some of my human relationships. As an adult, it continues to feel many of those longings, even reconnecting me with me, or who I had dreamt I would be, or who I hoped I could become...

4. I could always count on sports, win or lose. Other things in life did not prove as dependable. Constancy, consistency. With sports and its figures that drive you, you know what you are going to get, what the payoff will be, win or lose. Sports are a very comfy friend that elates and disappoints, but never abandons you. People and other important things in life prove fickle, capricious and betraying (backstabbing, unreliable, painful and worrisome, leaving no confidence or the actual fear and stress posited in others can push one back to  what has already given those constant  feelings of fulfillment, either momentary or more enduring (sports)).

5. Bobby Knight.

6. My Dad.

7. My immediate family, my friends and extended family.

8. My community (Bloomington, Indiana).

9. My state and region. The Great Lakes, 2 hours from Kentucky border.

10. My faith (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

11. Lavell Edwards and Norm Chow.

12. Living in Chile, South America during World Cup 1990.

13.  Living in Provo, Utah, and associating with fans and non-fans of BYU sports, the Utah Jazz, other perspectives and many acquaintances of domestic and international sports fans.

14. Returning to my home town after thinking I had left Indiana far behind. I fully and irrevocably realized that I cannot let this go; IU basketball (and to a good degree football) mean more to me than many things that rationally should take more importance in my life. This is a part of me and I cannot release it like a passing fancy anymore; part of my soul and its journey is inextricably linked and haunted by these "teams", these mere "sports" of some isolated sports school. (My home, my infancy, my adolescence, my dreams of greatness, all that built up joy and ecstacy). When they play, my universe has a point of reference, it has a center of gravitational pull. My body and even my  mind might be participating in another venue, but my soul is  searching for the final score, the result: did IU win? Relief. They lost? By how much? How does that affect their record? Who do they play next?

15. Living in California and realizing that the Internet connects me to both my basketball center (IU) and my football joy (BYU). I am not abandoned. My alma maters follow me and haunt my days and nights..."Alma" means soul.  "Mater" means mother. These two institutions, symbolized by their sports, represent and offer themselves as my soul mothers...

Is this idolotry? Perhaps. But I do have faith in God and a divine plan. And somehow, who I am, what I believe, where I am from, where I have lived, who my family is, what conversations I have, and maybe a thousand other little details make me into a sports fan. I suppose I should mention the proliferation of sports writing (like Sports Illustrated), USA Today in the mid-eighties, the rise of the cable channels, the Internet...

15. I am American. I have also lived abroad, and I have a keen affinity for the international; I appreciate what I consider is the greatness of the American sports juggernaut. I also value the international effect and growth of worldwide sports, and the ecumenical sports movements of the World Basketball Championships, the Pan American Games, the Olympics and the World Cup, tennis (even golf  and racing are much more interesting because of this...

16. Talking to and meeting real athletes, coaches, fans, etc.

17. Reading great stuff about sports, and the not so great...Plus the movies, television shows, news reports...

18. My interest in international affairs and foreign cultures, diversity and ecoconomics...World history and human development, and the implication that sports has on all these multicultural facets...

19. My continual love of literature, American, British, Latin American, etc.; great prose and classic works from the world over...

20. I am educated and enlightened by the sports world, and the events transpiring on and off the field. I respect and at times am left in awe by the dedication that I observe as well as the actual performances in competitiion...

To be continued... I think I have most of number one covered...