The word is: WOW.
That pretty much sums that up.
Now to the point. This post was supposed to come three days ago, but due to college/work/general busyness, it is a little delayed. We've barely had time to watch our boys win twelve straight (!!!). But there was one pretty big news story lately that changed not only the sports world, but the whole world. Obviously, we're talking about September 11th.
You may be thinking, Wow, how irrelevant. This is a silly blog with ridiculous posts about juvenile topics and now they want us to read something else about 9/11? Nuh-uh. What does that have to do with baseball or the Tigers? But please, hear us out. This relates to baseball and the Tigers. Just bear with the seriousness for a few paragraphs and we'll go back to our girlish musings on Rick Porcello's chiseled features soon, okay? Okay.
Hit the jump and we'll tell you more...
On September 11th, 2001, how the three of us saw the world changed dramatically and permanently. We were nine years old, in the fourth grade, and up until that point, lived very cushy and sheltered lives. For the most part, we didn't have any troubles or worries. After that day, though, things changed. No longer was our happy family worry-free, nor was the country. We remember watching the events on TV, being horrified at the images displayed the screen. It traumatized us, as we're sure it did everyone.
Needless to say, things changed for people after that. We were young, but we could see how this horrible attack affected our community and our family. No one felt completely safe. It's pretty scary, for a kid to see their world change overnight.
What we came to realize was that in times of stress, it is best to have an outlet. Some form of escapism when life is depressing or overwhelming or you just need a break. During this time was when the three of us found sports.
We saw how sports brought the whole country together in New York a week after the attacks. It was (and is) the one place where people can come together and forget about race, religion, politics, money, anything, and bond over something as seemingly inconsequential as a guy trying to hit a ball with a stick. We saw how people watched it, talked about it, obsessed over it, and around this time we finally got the appeal. We've been intense college football, NFL, and NHL fans for ten years now, but there is one sport that connected with us like no other.
That sport, of course, was baseball.
Nothing makes the three of us happier than sitting down and watching a Tigers game. There's something just so…not quite relaxing (have you seen Brad Penny pitch?), but fun about screaming at the TV for three hours, listening to Rod and Mario goof around, and watching our boys win some great games. Especially this year.
Teams like this 2011 squad are the kind of teams that bring cities together. This has been said time and time again, but sports are one of the few things that give different people, no matter what their lives are like or how different their backgrounds are, one big thing in common. Everyone can rally around a team. Everyone can feel hopeful and inspired by teams like the one that's rockin' the D right now.
So, yes, this post would have been better/more relevant a few days ago. But watching our team come from behind (again!) against Chicago (again!) with clutch home runs (again!) to bail out Brad Penny (again!), we couldn't help but think about how inspiring they are. How they're not letting us down. And how every time they come to play, they give us all hope that they can win any game no matter what.
It's that kind of hope and pride that makes people love sports so much. So even when times get tough, whether it be from something horribly tragic, like the events that occurred ten years ago on September 11th, or you're simply stressed out, a few hours (or even a few innings) of baseball can be the perfect distraction. It can also be the perfect solution for a community, city, state, or even the country to come together.
After all, when your star catcher's masks erupts in sparks, you know your team is hot.
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