Olympic fever

              I get emotional when Canada wins an Olympic medal. My wife rolls her eyes at a grown man breaking down over a sport. What is it about sports that brings the best and worst out of people? I remember reading stories of soccer fans in Europe dying in riots over a game. Hockey fights between fans and the teams do happen. Baseball brawls are still common. The emotional level in sport is elevated in the fan and the player alike.

            I was watching the women soccer and they replayed a winning goal from four years ago and it still grips me inside. I can replay hockey goals and baseball homeruns and shed a tear. How on earth could old plays evoke tears if I’ve seen them hundreds of times? The American ladies lost in the soccer Olympics and their goalie Hope Solo goes on a rant calling Sweden cowards. Her passion of winning and losing will be her strength and her undoing. Passion and play is strong all over the world. Is there a culture that is not passionate about sport?

            In each sport is a hall of fame. Many places scramble to have a place where they honor sport players. We don’t have an honor place for doctors and lawyers. We do have memorials for are fallen war hero’s. Puerto Rico has monuments and statues all over that honor the living and dead. I know some get annoyed that we honor sport players. I feel that we try and honor other professions but doctors don’t have pre game shows, riots, and parades. Yes, we honor them but sport players tweak a different tune in our hearts.

            I know that at our football games when one star of the past decides to come into the stands all hell breaks loose. The guys on the field are practically forgotten. I have Jesus on my jersey but I shamefully have a running back on another jersey. I am a God team player but also excited when my sport team wins too. Yes, I’d have asked Jesus to sign my jersey. Who wouldn’t. Catholic Christians have a wall of fame in the form of saints. Aren’t the sport heroes of the past our modern day saints? I know it’s not the same but deep down it is to many.

            What does God have to say about heroes? Way back in the old testament of the Bible we have an account of great heroes in Genesis 6. These people were famous in those days. The first football stars? Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 9 that all runners run a race to get a prize. There are proverbs talking about the sluggard and endurance scriptures all over the place. Yet, God does not directly mention sport as if it’s not important. I don’t talk about democracy all the time but it’s important. Team play is littered throughout the Bible in the form of stories. There are honored and famous people in the Bible that religious people honor like Moses. We have Biblical heroes.

            In a way we are to not draw attention to ourselves because it’s all about Jesus and God the Father. However, we are the ones he sends to tell the good news. We are the ones that are asked to live holy lives. We are asked to do and be more than we are. We are to run a good race to win a prize. The Bible mentions discipline, strength, and endurance. The is community and family. The Bible promotes a full life just as sport does. They say that sport is 90% mental and 10% talent. We can argue the numbers but what’s between the ears is far more important than between the muscles, goal line, or 400 feet from home plate.

            The term “I think I can” should be replaced with “I know I can.” Winners know rather than think. Canada is experiencing a rising Star in the Olympic pool by the name of Penny Oleksiak. She is only 16 and has no business winning four medals with women while she is still a kid. Tell that to Penny. Between her ears is “I know I can.” The same could be said of Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, and Wayne Gretzky. Our heroes of renown and honor in this age.

            This is the time for Olympic fever. I well up with tears as my heroes fight for the honor of our country. We get angry when Olympic hopefuls rant and talk trash. I love it when my Olympic rugby girls smoke some poor lady on the field. It’s not lady like but it is hero like. We all can be heroes in helping others. We all can be heroes by doing our best. Our heroes inspire us on the Olympic stage and the war stage. That is why we really only have two walls of fame: war and sport. They both evoke passion and inspiration all at the same time.

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