There is no such thing as race when it comes to our country’s love of sports. If you come to a Louisa football game under our infamous Friday night lights, have ever walked into Buffalo Wild Wings on a Sunday in the fall, or if you are ever lucky enough to spend a Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa in the fall (Roll Tide), the crowd could care less about the color of your skin or political ideology. Fans come together to cheer on their team and for a few hours, put aside their differences. True sports fans could care less about whether the person cheering beside them is black or white, Republican or Democrat, or whether they have stripes like a zebra. The fact is, in those moments, they are one.
People put their worries aside, and for a few hours are only concerned about one thing: how much of a show their team is going to put on. You see people crying together, screaming until they lose their voices, strangers becoming brothers and sisters, hugging each other; and that is what our country needs right now.
Sports are an escape from everything wrong in the world. You may have had a bad day, but wait until your team wins or your favorite player scores 50 points, you will say to yourself, “Why am I even mad?”
Sports fans come together in celebration, whatever your politics, whatever your skin color, whatever your religious preferences. You may think this is crazy, but sports are the only thing holding this country together, so players, use your platform to continue to unite us. Bring us together in our love for your sport, implore our nation to take this unity with them as they celebrate wins, commiserate over losses and ultimately live together in that same harmony.

See full editorial in the October 1 print edition of The Lion’s Roar.

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