That's Right, More Reasons Why I Love Sports

16. Camraderie
I remember it clearly. It was December of 1997 when I was a Freshman in high school and we were playing Buckeye High School in far south east Phoenix. Let me fill you in about the southwestern U.S. There are very few big cities and many of them like Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Tucson are all at least 100 miles apart. The furthest is probably Tucson to Los Angeles which is about a 7 hour drive. This means basically that big cities take up about 10% of the west and rural parts take up the other 90%. The rural parts, frankly, are scarier than shit. Picture where Forrest Gump grew up and just take away grass, charm, and hisotry, and add sunburns, overalls, and bad attitudes you've got the rural southwest. Buckeye is no different. And they sure as hell didn't like us "city-folk" beating the crap out of their team. So of course a few of their players started knocking us around and we, being city-folk, didn't wanna take "nothin' from none of those punk ass marks!" (we still believed we were Compton gangsters because we lived near L.A.). They didn't like that at all and started almost really beating the crap out of us, I mean the WHOLE TOWN. I learned three things that day that 1. We weren't Compton gansgters, 2. I didn't know how to fight, and 3. Sports can make even the strangest of outsiders stick together for one cause. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that and being a part of the team can sometimes mean more than winning.

17. Talk Radio
In college I used to be "that guy" that called into sports radio shows to tell them my point of view. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't argue with the hosts or anything, I was usually on par with what they were saying, but I called in at least 12 times my last semeseter of college. I finally quit that when I got a real job and they said they were going to fire me if I misused the telephones here. That didn't stop me from listening to ESPN Radio virtually everyday especially The Herd. I think sports radio can provide that filler in between games and it's kind of like one big forum for sports nuts to either agree or disagree with the host and other callers and much of the time they dive more into just what happened in the first quarter, they talk about issues that sports affect socially which drives interest. You all know you have it somewhere on your pre-set if you're a sports nut. Just fight the urge to call in and say "Bill Cowher is a BUM!"

18. Boxing
Boxing today is a complete joke. Judging by the "So You Think You Can Dance" audition known as the De la Hoya/Mayweather bout boxing can't even have its best fight be exciting. I understand that boxing is actually kind of an art form, but I've never actually boxed so I want to see people kick the crap out of each other, not prance around like forest lillies. But at the same time, can you think of a sport that requires more physical and mental toughness, training, expertise, talent, stamina, and of course the ever needed "balls?" I can't. The De la Hoya/Mayweather fight lasted 12 rounds, 3 minutes apiece I believe. It SEEMS feasible, but that same night I tried boxing my friends and each of us lasted about two rounds each for two minutes......with a 30 second break after the first minute.......two of us puked because we were winded and one of my friends had to have his girlfriend pick him up because he almost passed out after getting knocked silly. I don't think most people would even be qualified to hand most boxers water no less fight a man's sport. Boxing is truly mano a mano and nothing less.

19. Championships
It doesn't matter if you were a part of it or if your team was. There is NOTHING better than a championship in sports. The best part is, it DOESN'T get old EVER. I remember distinctly two championships in my life. The 2001 World Series (I'm still waiting for my DVD from Blockbuster Online so I can re-live it) and the 1997 Arizona Wildcats National Championship. Although I'm not a big UA fan my wife and her entirely family are from Tucson and she let me know that the entire city of about 600,000 people went completely ape-shit. Tucson, let me tell you, won't go ape-shit even if Godzilla went tearing down Speedway Avenue because those "damn youngsters might steal their purse if they go outside." That's what championships can do to people. John McCain once wrote in an article one time what was the one defining moment that brought the great state of Arizona together. He said the 2001 World Series without question. The entire STATE erupted into joy to see a championship come here. All of those whose teams have won a championship or have won one yourself (1999 Glendale Parks and Rec 3 on 3 B-ball Tournament Champions Baby!) you know the feeling. Here are a few memorable ones from the 1990s on......
The 2004 Boston Red Sox
The 2005 Chicago White Sox
The 1998 Tennessee Volunteers
The 2004 USC Trojans
The 1994 and 1995 Houston Rockets
The 2000 Los Angeles Lakers
The 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes
The Chicago Bulls Dynasty
The 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers
The Patriots Dynasty
The 1993 Dallas Cowboys
The 1993 Toronto Blue Jays
There are plenty more, but this is to just get the ball rolling in case you're a fan of any of these teams. Championships are just BEAUTIFUL!

20. Kobe Bryant
I don't know if I could make it more clear that there is a short list of athletes that I would go out of my way to push in front of a moving car. Kobe Bryant is at the top of my list. He plays for a franchise I hate, for an arena I hate, has a number I hate, and I hate the way he breathes too. Let's just say I hate the guy. But the only reason I hate him is because he's so great. Despite Kobe's attitude and off the court problems I think the last player I saw that could do the things he did was MJ. Kobe is SO good that in the 4 times in his career he has played against my Suns in the playoffs he has managed to light us up like a Christmas tree. There's shots that he will pull from his ass that I think before they go in "Pfff, there's no way he can hit that sho....damn it!" It would literally take a SWAT team to keep him from getting a shot off and even they would have to resort to tear gas. He's strong, fast, a good defender, committed, passionate, intense, a terrific three point shooter, a good free throw shooter, and is undeniably more athletic than 99% of the guys in the league. If he were a Suns player I would rush to get my 24 uniform as we speak. But until that day, I'll just admire from afar.

21. Steve Nash
I couldn't follow up with a love fest of Kobe without talking about my main main, Steve Nash. Steve is probably one of the truest definitions of an MVP I've ever seen play. Granted, most people don't get to watch his games because if he's playing Sacramento on a Wednesday night are you really going to stay up that late to watch him if you're in Atlanta? Probably not, but that's part of his appeal. He's not flashy. He doesn't dunk. He doesn't play great defense. But I would pay him a billion dollars just to keep playing for my enjoyment. If you don't understand why he's the MVP then you just don't understand basketball. Let's look at it this way, basketball teams are like millionaires. Every one of them has Ferrari (a great scorer who always finds the hoop), good stock options (a great defender), a solid savings account (a great bench), and a money manager (a head coach), but millionaires desire something more. They desire that handcrafted African piece of art no one else has. They want that one football jersey that was signed by Jim Thorpe. They want that priceless item that is the most valuable of possesions. It may not bling like Kobe, give you returns like Ben Wallace, or buy your way out of trouble like the Spurs bench, but it stands out from the rest because it enhances every other item you own. Steve Nash is that rare piece of African art that is simply priceless.