Ah Klosterman, your words are so true and never fail to speak to me on a deep, yet so superficial level. In his essay 33, Klosterman writes about the rich and dominating basketball culture of the mid to late 1980's. And when I say this, I obviously mean the intense, overblown, highly-contested battle of the LA Lakers and the Boston Celtics. The focus wasn't just on the battle between Bird and Magic on the court, however, but on the hostile and very racial culture that was produced between opposing Lakers and Celtics fans. This heated rivalry that was created from the success of these two teams helped to form the hatred these fans have for each other nowadays, as well as the racial issues that are so often associated with the sport of basketball, as well as other big time sports in the United States. Klosterman identified how the Larry Bird-led Celtics were mostly Caucasian in an NBA full of African-American-run teams; one of these teams of course being the LA Lakers. The stars of Bird and Magic Johnson (Lakers) began to emerge from the two teams, and it wasn't long before these teams began winning the right games and establishing themselves as the best teams in the league. Now how could two teams have so much success, but at the same time, be so different in their racial make-up, style of play, and overall fan base?? Well, for starters, maybe physical and mental prowess in a sport isn't solely based on race or where a person comes from. Maybe skill set and a team's chemistry are both learned and achieved through long hours in the gym and at practice, as well from a great passion for the game. Even if this really is the case, there is no way to escape how race and ethnicity defines a community (such as in Boston and LA), and how people tend to choose sides within these sporting communities so that they can feel like a part of something that they can really embrace as their own.
This passion for sport and the community that a person may find themselves in always depends on the kind of person that he/she is. Some might even say that age is one of the biggest proponents to one's love of a sport, and that that "fire inside" may tend to dwindle and die as one grows older. The End of Practice, a poem by Rodney Jones, is a perfect description in my opinion of how youth athletics is one of the most highly contested levels of sport in both the amount of passion that is shown from its players and fans, and in how it creates communities that surround teams and entire towns. These athletes treat every day like another chance to prove themselves yet again, and practice like their lives depend on it. Especially when it comes to high school sports, such as football, the players and coaches who devote their time to the game aren't usually there just to have a good time. Sure, they both have outstanding passions for the game that they play/teach, but it is through the victories, loses, and intensities of games that these kids and adults find their true belonging. And out of this raw emotional atmosphere comes the passion of the fans who seem to be drawn to every game to watch their son/daughter, cheer for their friends, believe in a team, or believe in an entire town. There is no other event or activity on this planet that can bring communities together like sports can. In the poem, Jones talks about the young athletes angst and drive to shine in practice, win the respect from their coaches, and in turn, gain that feeling of accomplishment that is found through a winning touchdown/goal/run and is acknowledged by a community of parents, friends, fans, and elders. Sure, at times race can be an influence on the makeup of a sports community, as was the case with the Lakers and Celtics, but that is not the only aspiring factor that describes a culture such as this. I believe that it is the role that all of us fans must take, as well as the athletes that we cheer for, to bring a community of people together to believe in something, no matter what that may be. Winning that first game, beating that rival team, or even taking that deep run in the playoffs to an eventual championship are all examples of how sports teams allow us to believe in something bigger than ourselves. When a community forgets its troubles and problems, and can come together to share in a sporting heritage that fuels both the passion of its fans and athletes, that is when that community becomes a culture, and that is how every single person within that culture can choose to define themselves. No matter what color our skin is or where we come from, we are all sports fans inside, and we all can choose to believe in something that we are truly passionate about.
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