EVERYBODY WHO IS EVEN REMOTELY interested in sports knows that this is the weekend for the NCAA college basketball Final Four. This year, the teams are UCLA, North Carolina, Memphis, and Kansas. UCLA is in the Final Four for the third-year in a row, and I’m at the Final Four for the fifth consecutive year. Why do I keep coming back? What makes me want to travel on crowded flights to stay in noisy hotels just to watch some games I could see better at home on TV?
I didn’t go to UCLA. Neither of my alma maters — Cal and Northwestern — have been in any of the Final Fours that I’ve attended, and their meeting in a championship game anytime soon is about as likely as the Obamas inviting the Clintons over for dinner. So why do I get so much joy out of going to this event? It’s the same reason that perfectly sane adults — doctors, lawyers, truck drivers, waitresses, and people from every other walk of life — dress in ridiculous outfits and scream for a few hours, and then go back to their regular lives. We do it to escape. We do it to get away from the real world. We do it to take a break from thinking about work, our personal problems, or the war.
Sports have been criticized for being too commercial, too ready to coddle egomaniacal athletes, and too full of drugs. Amateur sports are seen as a sham in which the college or Olympic participant is not really an amateur. I can’t argue with any of these criticisms. Sports are all of these things. But they are something else, too — they are really fun to watch. And as the war continues with no end in sight, and as the dollar will soon buy a quarter of a gallon of gasoline, it seems like a pretty good time for fun.
The excitement of attending this year’s Final Four started on the flight to San Antonio. The plane was filled with people making the pilgrimage. College songs were sung, bets were made, and friendships were forged, all at 30,000 feet.
When we landed, we were inundated with signs and friendly faces, all welcoming us to “San Antonio, Home of the 2008 NCAA Final Four.” Before I even got my luggage, volunteers walked over to me, asking if I needed any directions. You see, it’s not just the Alamodome that will house excitement. All of San Antonio seems exhilarated.
Historically, sports have often provided a much-needed respite from cruel reality. I remember reading stories about the Civil War in which some soldiers from the North and South took a break from fighting to play baseball with each other. Similarly, the Philippine army and the insurgents recently held a seven-hour truce so they could watch local hero Manny Pacquiao fight for the super featherweight title.
Unfortunately, in all of these kinds of cases, after the sporting events were over, the participants went back to trying to kill each other. So as far as I’m concerned, our society doesn’t suffer from too much sport, but not enough.
It never bothers me when a president welcomes athletes to the White House or calls to congratulate a team that has won a championship. It’s fine with me if politicians are big sports fans. Others may ask,“Don’t our leaders have more important things to do?” My answer is, “Not necessarily.” The more hours that those in power spend dealing with sports means there are fewer hours that they have to mess up some foreign or domestic policy.
If George Bush’s psyche had pushed him to compete with his father as an athlete rather than as a statesman, how much different might the world be today?
Perhaps that’s too serious of a question to ponder just now. This weekend is a time for taking a break, watching the games, and having fun. It’s more appropriate to ponder whether all those UCLA fans who color their faces blue will be able to remove that paint before they return to work next week. After Monday night, we can go back to solving the problems of the world.
LLOYD GARVER has written for many television shows, ranging from “Sesame Street” to “Family Ties” to “Home Improvement” to “Frasier.” He has also read many books, some of them in hardcover. He Check out his website at lloydgarver.com
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 5, 2008. Read the original PDF.