i am both and american and a canadian.
born in california and raised in canada from 7 years old onward, i feel as though i was exposed to many things from both north american cultures that have shaped the way that i am today. man, i could go on about what has influenced my growth forever, but i want to write about one thing in particular. sports.
in particular, hockey and football.
growing up in canada, hockey has been my sport of choice for entertainment. because i don’t subscribe to tv, when i moved to santa barbara, i remember the first time i tried to find a bar or restaurant that would play the vancouver canucks hockey games. timing of hockey coincides with basketball, and americans love their basketball… not as much as football, but far more than hockey. i remember the pure joy i felt when i came across “o’malley’s” – my favourite place in santa barbara – because there, right in front of my eyes, i walked up to a group of hockey fans, yelling at the screens just like i do when i watch. there was even a canucks fan, jersey and all, to share with me in the roller coaster ride that is ‘being a canucks fan’. after moving to maui, i had a stint of actually playing roller hockey with a bunch of hockey fans, but my career came to an end when i suffered a concussion and made the executive decision that i was getting too old to play such rough sports… if anything, i would continue to surf. but that never stopped me, and the group of canucks fans that we found out there, from gathering in numbers and forcing “charlie’s” bar in paia to lend us at least one tv for our viewing and yelling pleasure.
i find hockey so much fun to watch. perhaps it’s that i understand the rules, it’s fast and action packed and the seemingly impossibility of shooting that tiny puck into the slivers of open space that exist behind the talent and size of the goalie in front of that minature net – well, the precision is almost like watching a miracle. who doesn’t enjoy witnessing miracles…?
i remember during the 1994 stanley cup finals, when our beloved canucks made the city proud by winning the western conference finals, i was but a young hopeful with my dreams resting on their success. i drew and painted canucks logos and put them on the windshields of our neighbors cars to share my enthusiasm. i rocked my jersey so proudly. and i cried when they lost in game seven. i cried even more when the city rioted and i saw how volatile and violent people became when hopes and dreams are crushed…. the dreams that weren’t even their own… just their hopes. but every year, i gear up and spread my hopes for them over months of ups and downs… regardless of how they do, i still have love for them.
in the usa, the same love can be found for football. everywhere. football is one of the most widely adored and respected sports across the nation. from an age younger than highschool (whatever age that might be) boys begin their long and consuming journey into the institution of football. from a very young age they are bred to play… enticed to follow… and born to dream.
one of my great young loves was a football player before we met. he was motivated, determined, creative and persistent. during high school, he was adored and worshipped, growing up in a small town in oklahoma as a football player. i remember him telling me all the things he was able to get away with in his town… so long as he played his heart out for the team they would all come out to cheer for on friday nights. graduating to college ball, the field grew more treacherous, the expectations more demanding, and the consequences more severe. so many more eyes on you, and so much more undue hope weighing on your shoulders. injuries gave him an out to escape with no shame… most players don’t get the luxury of that. without meaning any condescension, i feel most athletes in major team sports are still just people… boys… caught in an accepted hierarchy of power. they have grown up with dreams and aspirations, and have worked hard with discipline, pride and social exposure. they have a celebrity status that puts them above the line of certain accepted dignities and, oddly, breeds a love from people that goes beyond simple respect for talent and hard work… creating an almost “god-like” persona/complex. it’s really not their fault. if, when out in public, people want to touch you… to take a photo with you… to be with you… it would take a strong, highly contemplative individual that would question and discover the roots of those actions, and consequently attach them to a social phenomenon that has nothing to do with them in actuality. afterall… they are just human. these men have endured physical, emotional and mental struggles to get where they are today. they have mentors. they have teachers. they laugh and cry. they experience winning and losing. it’s amazing and addictive to watch.
whether it’s hockey or football or basketball or lacrosse… it’s just about having a team that you love to align your hopes and dreams with. or maybe not even a team. maybe it’s just about relinquishing the pressures of our own lives – and, for a moment, allow a group of hopefuls to control our emotions… we’d rather suspend our own reality… and gamble our hopes on a group of individuals that can win something that will somehow make everything in our lives, albeit momentarily, absolute bliss. whatever it is, we can’t help but wander over to the drawn crowd of people to see what the buzz is all about. and the energy hooks into you and you’re all of a sudden cheering.
being born in san francisco, i have the luxury of being a band wagon fan of the glorious san francisco 49ers. knowing they are on their way to playing for the nfc championships, and possibly the super bowl… well it’s the same brewing excitement inside my gut as if the canucks were, once again, in the stanley cup finals… since they are my team of choice for this football season, i find it fitting that the next big game is against “the giants.” by lyrical nature, they would be the underdogs. it’s the easiest thing in the world to cheer for the underdogs. nothing to expect except the unexpected. nowhere to go but up. perhaps expecting the unexpected is not such a bad thing after all… it keeps us sharp in our minds and excited in our guts, which is the flint and spark for a great fire to burn in our hearts. i guess this is the beauty of putting your hopes and dreams in sports. and whether your team wins or loses the game, no one in the world can deny the fact that they are winners just by playing their hearts out and giving it their all.
“i always turn to the sports section first. the sports page records people’s accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man’s failures.” ~ earl warren
whether or not it is hockey or football… let your hopes and dreams fall victim to a group of hard working boys or girls or men or women… let their passion and spirit invigorate your heart and soul for a couple of hours. after all, as quoted by howard cosell, “sports is human life in microcosm.” in most ways, i’d tend to agree.
