Sports

No one in my family follows sports. At best my dad will make the occasional completely incorrect comment when I'm watching football ... something like "Why didn't he throw it a second time?!? The other guy was free!"

But of course, I'm making this joke to the wrong crowd. Barely any of my friends follow sports.

So why do I?

At first I was inclined to think that I picked up the habit in New Jersey. There, people were on top of their sports. Everyone knew how well the Jets, Giants, Nets, Knicks, Devils, Rangers, Islanders, Yankees, and Mets were doing. People even followed the now-defunct MetroStars, the local soccer team. For 3 years in a row, my parents took my friends and me to their games.

But even now, I pick up new sports like I pick up stones. In 2006 I began following the professional Super Smash Brothers Melee scene. In 2007 I began following baseball more closely than ever before. In 2008 I began following the Korean Leagues of Starcraft: Broodwar.

Why? Well, for the same reason everyone else follows sports. Sports bring people together. It's kind of strange how a game that pits fierce rivals against one another can do so, but there's no denying this fact.

These games inevitably have winners and losers. Recently, I've been fortunate enough to have my favorite team and player accomplish impressive feats in their respective sports.

It's a great feeling. Of course, with it comes the pain of defeat. It really does sort of darken your day when you find out your favorite team lost, or that your favorite player dropped out of a league, or any one of the multitude of things that can go wrong in professional sports.

But watching Pound 4, the biggest Super Smash Brothers tournament to date, I realized why I subject myself to this.

Two of the best Captain Falcon players in the world were playing against each other. It was an intense game. Both players are well-liked, they each had their own cheering section. The participants kept topping each other. The level of their game play rose to incredible heights, spurred on both by their opposition and the cheers of the crowd.

The crowd did a funny thing then. People stopped yelling things like, "Kick his ass, Jeff!" or "Kill this noob, man!" They began to appreciate what the game was giving them. Entertainment. And when someone started up the cheer "Fal-con! Fal-con! Fal-con!" I seriously doubt there was a person in the room who didn't join in.

Bitter rivals or not, the entire room could appreciate what they were seeing. They could agree on something. Even something as trivial as a video game goes a long way toward establishing a little more appreciation, a little more respect, and a little more love in the world.

And I guess that's what I'm really after.