How Your Sport Makes The Old You Young Again
Although you may have a favorite sport in truth every sport can be favored
“A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.”
– Mary Lou Retton Kelley
American Champion Gymnast
in the 1984 Olympic Games.
Olympic Champion Retton Kelley sums up the fleeting beauty of sport.
To me, one sport is not better than another. Each sport has its ups and downs.
Although Kelley was a champion gymnast I`m not saying that her sport is better than others or that she has a divine right to dictate what sport is or is not the best sport.
Instead, I think we all have that right.
Why your opinion on your favorite sport matters:
Sport comes from within and its value is for all.
Sure, Mary Lou was an Olympic champion but she only got first place when others finished behind her on the podium. Without her opponents, she is not the champion.
The same is true of all champions in their respective sports.
Ali was the greatest. But he was only the best because he beat the likes of George Foreman, Joe Fraizer, and Sonny Liston.
In tennis, Roger Federer won a lot. He ranked number one in the world for 310 weeks and beat off virtually everyone on the ATP tour at some stage or another.
Tiger Woods had 82 PGA Tour wins and who will ever forget the US Masters Victory in 2019 when no one expected him to make that come back and win his fifth green jacket.
In a team sport, Brazil has beaten Italy, Argentina, France, Germany, England, and all the top sides in world football to claim the World Cup on many occasions.
And the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots closely followed by the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys have won the most Super Bowls.
But if it’s all about winning then the vast majority of athletes, players, and fans will be disappointed almost all of the time. So sport and what you find to be the most favorite thing about it must come from somewhere deeper and meaningful.
The Most Favored Sport:
Sport gives us winners but it also gives us losers. But within each sport, there is aggression, intensity, determination, confidence, bravery, skill, athleticism, guile, and wit.
There is courage, teamwork, leadership, and individuality on display.
Sport is entertaining to each one in individual ways and for us all collectively.
All of these things are expressions of the human will. Each and everyone creates greatness in itself and for the person who exerts themselves.
Favorite Sporting Moments:
Rarely if ever do two opinions agree on each and every detail of a game or sporting performance. Each happening in sport occurs so quickly and is over before you know it. What you experience in that brief period creates a special feeling for you. But what others perceive whilst watching the same play can motivate an entirely different emotion.
Sometimes though there are special moments in sport that also bring people together.
A knockout punch by Rocky Marciano would bring gasps from the ringside crowd.
Any goal from one of the over 1,000 ones scored by football’s great Pele made crowds go wild.
Or a head dip on the line by Usain Bolt that usually made new history for the fastest man ever, all brought people together and gave them that feeling of experiencing joyous freedom that epitomizes human ability.
And it’s that feeling in that great sporting moment that you wish to bottle and keep forever.
How our bodies favor sport:
Our bodies are a gift to us. But not everybody is the same.
Not all of us are born with the anatomical advantages of some of the greatest athletes of all time.
Although Magic Johnson honed his skills nature gave him a huge advantage in playing basketball at the highest level as he stood at 6’ 9’’ tall. And swimmer Michael Phelps’ arms extended 80 inches tip to tip, but his body measured in at 76 inches in height. This is unusual. As the majority of the time, people’s height normally matches the distance between their outstretched hands. This, experts believe, gave him an advantage in the pool.
Sure, these two guys used the natural advantages and built on it to become among the greatest in their respective sports. But, most people do not have these traits that if harnessed correctly can lend to winning in sport.
Your sporting memory is the most favorite part of sport:
For most people sport is about taking part, trying to win, and enjoying the journey along the way. Although they may have dreamt of making it big when they were young by the time they reach adulthood they realize their body’s limited ability and rationally use it in playing a sport that they enjoy.
And it’s usually that sport that you played the most that you’ll end up watching more of as you age. As you do, you’ll notice moments within the sport that flicker back to when you felt you too could be considered the best.
It’s those moments of sport that are so individual to us all that is our most favorite.
And when our bodies are too old to mimic the action of that moment of our favorite sport, at least our minds can still journey into it and feel that joyous freedom of being alive.
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