Sports provide emotional release

For most people, sports seem like a waste of time. However, others see athletics as a great release for emotion. When one has a serious problem, he or she often heads to the gym. A good run, some weight lifting or a couple of hours of pick-up basketball always seems to put things in perspective.\nThe true fan of team sports knows that games can serve the same purpose. One follows his or her team through high and low times. The emotional payoff is the reward, or curse, of being a fan. Winning a Stanley Cup on an overtime goal can make one feel as if he or she was actually a member of the team. Losing a Super Bowl by a winning field goal going wide right can depress an entire city. Fans often question their own commitment to their team, especially after heartbreaking losses. Yet, when the next game begins, the true fan sits there in their jersey and yells through the television at blind referees, sub-par plays and inept coaches.\nSports, however, can do even more. It can bring people together in the face of collective pain. In November 1963, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle kept the league playing three days after the assassination of John F. Kennedy to give America something else to focus on. In 1980, with a weakened economy and Americans being held hostage in Iran, the U.S. Olympic hockey team's victory over the heavily favored Soviets in the greatest upset in sports history helped raise American spirits.\nThe tragedy of Sept. 11 struck New York City to its very core physically, mentally and emotionally. The loss of the physical structures of the World Trade Center and the lives of nearly 3,000 people left a gaping wound for New Yorkers. For a week all one saw on television were pictures of the twisted and smoldering ruins of the Twin Towers and smoke rising over lower Manhattan. \nSlowly the images of horror were replaced by scenes from the athletic field. Who could forget the Mets first game against the Pittsburgh Pirates a week after Sept. 11 when the team gave up their usual hats for those of the NYPD, FDNY and Port Authority police, or the emotions the players exhibited during the national anthem? One cannot help but remember NYPD officer Daniel Rodriguez's stirring version of "God Bless America" echoing through Yankee Stadium or Red Sox fans holding up "I Love NY" signs during a series at Fenway. Sports didn't overshadow what happened; it was a distraction. \nBesides giving New Yorkers something else to think about, however briefly, the teams of NY helped the city by winning. The Giants won at Kansas City and then against the Saints in their first game at Giants Stadium since Sept. 11. The Mets, out of playoff contention for most of the season, suddenly vaulted back into the playoff race. The Yankees made it to the World Series on the back of Derek Jeter. When the Bronx Bombers took on the Diamondbacks for the title, even decades-long Yankee haters couldn't help by at least partially root for the Bombers. A certain pride came back to New Yorkers, a pride based on their teams, a pride that had been weakened on a crystal clear September morning. At the time, New York needed hope and these teams provided it.\nOf course, the hope on the field was fleeting. The Giants finished 7-9, the Mets rally fell a week short of the post-season and Arizona rode Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson and Luis Gonzalez to October glory. Even though the teams of New York lost, their play allowed New Yorkers to channel emotions from Sept. 11 elsewhere for a while. In addition, the teams showed the spirit and fight of the city. Like the teams, the city would rise again.\nToday, things seem back to normal. The talk about the Yankees centers on another trip to the Series, Mets fans hope Mo Vaughn and Jeromy Burnitz show up in 2003 and Red Sox fans hate them both. New Yorkers will not forget Sept. 11. They continue to honor the victims by returning to some new type of normalcy while retaining memories of those who died and what they died for. Sports, in its own little way, has helped the healing process.