HoopsHype.com Columns

Should the games be played?
by Daniel Walsh / March 21, 2003

Wednesday night the United States of America began a War with Iraq. American soldiers strapped up their gear, went over their game plans one last time and went out to perform what they have practiced over the days, months and years.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, another group of Americans strapped up their gear, went over their game plans one last time and went out to perform what they have practiced over their entire lives. These people are not soldiers; they are NBA athletes. But like soldiers, they have a rare ability to perform mental and physical acts that the common man cannot and blah, blah, blah.

Is there any relation whatsoever to the work of soldiers and NBA athletes? And is there any harm in continuing to play basketball games during a time of War? The media would have you believe so.

When War breaks out, sports media outlets will often run the type of sappy crap that was just written in the first two paragraphs, or they will run a story about how “the battle for eighth place in the Eastern Conference is nothing like the battle that Lt. John Doe faces in Afghanistan, which helps the Wizards keep things in perspective…”. People that write these sentences should resign and people that need a War to keep sports in perspective should join a human shield in Baghdad.

Here’s the problem: sports writing does not require an English degree or much thought for that matter. Statistics tell 90% of the story and a decent writer can fill the rest with a few intelligent sayings, pop culture references and controversial statements. Yet, sportswriters do not want to accept this fact. They are average writers and average thinkers with big egos, which causes them to believe they should be accepted as a mainstream news source. That is why they end up with beer bellies, clogged arteries, receding hairlines and busted marriages.

And that is also why, when War breaks out, sports sections of newspapers and sports channels try to get audiences to take their work more seriously. Serious interviews are conducted and serious, hard-hitting headlines are written, such as, “Should the games be played?”

Sports are games, nothing more, nothing less. Just like the rest of America watches sports for entertainment, the soldiers that fight Wars enjoy watching or listening to games as a way to relax and take their minds off their daily tasks. The only difference during times of War is that, instead of watching games on a sofa in an air conditioned room with your buddies, beer and deep dish pizza, soldiers are listening to the games with strangers on a fuzzy radio, in a tent, in some foreign land, with harsh weather, garbage food and an odd speaking enemy trying to kill them at any hour. So it’s easy to see why canceling sporting events during times of War would help make a soldier’s situation better.

The fact that we are at War has no effect on the joy that fans may get from watching or listening to sporting events. Unity is great, but so is peace of mind for our soldiers as they long for a piece of comfort during difficult times.

The Lakers play the Kings and the Americans will bomb Iraq. One story warrants debate and serious questions and one does not. And you should be smart enough to know the difference.

Daniel Walsh writes for the Daily Southtown and is a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com

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