“Dad”?

“Yes, son”

“Why do you like sports so much?”

“Well, let me put it this way……it’s about eye black, stickum and pine tar.  It’s fourth and goal, and first and long, and John 3:16.  It’s about a walk off homer, and tapping in a fifteen foot putt on the eighteenth hole for a par after seventeen holes of double bogeys.  It’s about divots, brush burns and rally caps, The Miracle on Ice, the Lions, the Tigers and the Bears.”

“It’s about Oh My, and Holy Cow, Whoa Nellie, Back-Back-Back and Boo-Yah!  It’s Goose Gossage, Bear Bryant and Catfish Hunter and Tiger Woods.  It’s Dr. J, the Splendid Splinter, the Black Mamba, the Galloping Ghost, the Yankee Clipper and the Bambino.  It’s about Larry Legend, Kareem and Magic, Charley Hustle, the Mick and Tinkers to Evers to Chance, Chrissy Evert and Johnny Mac.  It’s Rafi and Roger and the Williams sisters.  It’s sweaty gym socks, the Fosbury Flop, ballpark franks, penalty kicks, and Renaldo.  It’s kills and digs, checkered flags and sudden death, overtime, extra innings, game sevens and being behind the eight ball.”

“It’s about the Green Monster, the Green Jacket, Wrigley ivy and Yankee pinstripes….goal line stands, the terrible towel and the Dog Pound, the Steel Curtain, RBI’s, FG’s, HR’s, ERA’s, TD’s, FT’s and the 7-10 split.”

“It’s all about the Immaculate Reception, Bobby Thompson’s home run, the Thrilla in Manila, No mas, and floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee, build it and they will come, Louisiana Lightning, a Nolan Ryan no-hitter, and Don Larson’s perfecto.  It’s the Great Gretzky, and Pele and Michael being Michael, and Jesse Owens, and Wilma Rudolph, Usain Bolt and the Chinese Bandits, the Go Team and the White Team.”

“It’s about ‘Here comes Lucky’, ‘Down the stretch’, ‘Let’s get ready to rrrrumble’, ‘Here’s the first pitch’, ‘He scoooores”, and a blue darter, a can o’ corn, playing in the empty lot, being the leadoff hitter, getting the first pick and playing pepper in the back yard till you can’t see any more.”

“It’s Hoosiers, and Friday Night Lights, Glory Road, Rocky, Raging Bull, The Cinderella Man, Tin Cup, Rudy, Any Given Sunday, Coach Carter, The Sandlot and Field of Dreams.  It’s all about Coach Lombardi, the Wizard of Westwood, Casey Stengel, Red Auerbach, Pat Summit, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Dean Smith, Bobby Knight, Knute Rockne, and Coach K.”

“It’s about Little League, Pop Warner football, Dixie Youth baseball and face masks, shin guards, shin pads, the stand up slide, sunflower seeds, chewing gum and Gatorade.  It’s all about driving the lane, lining up your putt, in the zone, press boxes, dugouts, penalty boxes, sidelines, the red zone and the peanut guy who can get a bag to you from seven rows away.”

“It’s about grand slams, hail marys, a hole in one and the suicide squeeze, a flip turn and swoosh before the buzzer, a double play, the 56 game streak, a wrap around goal, sand traps, aces high and bull’s eye.  It’s all about tail gates, and tale of the tape, starting blocks, tackling dummies, and spring training, boys of summer, the rope-a-dope, and who’s on first, what’s on second and I don’t know…third base!”

“It’s about Go Army, Beat Navy and playing H-O-R-S-E till you beat your Dad, and cut men in the corner and first basemen who can scoop up the dirt ball and make it look easy.  It’s about slumps, and streaks and standing O’s, the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup, the Heisman Trophy and Touchdown Jesus.”

It’s about the smell of your first baseball glove, the sound of your mother’s voice at your first basketball game.  In short, it’s about the wide world of sports, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat and all that comes with it and in between…..and so much more that it would take a lifetime to list.   But most importantly, it’s about passing all this along to you and hopefully, you’ll pass it on to your children.”

“For sport is indescribable….. and it can teach what others cannot.”