A gift 365-days-a-year

"Aren't sports great?"

We met for lunch on a Whyte ave coffee shop. Two guys in their late-twenties, one a former amateur athlete and one just a wannabe. We met for lunch and we end up talking almost until dinner. Two quarter-aged sports fans fortunate enough to have a passion for the games.

And despite all the recent happenings in the world, the massive turnout of Jon Stewart’s sanity rally; U.S. midterm campaigners benefiting from a hurricane of tea party donations; and the horror of Haiti who’s suffering from cholera infested waters and actual hurricanes; here were two guys talking sports. And talking sports and talking sports, past lunch and through enough coffee and caffeine to float our dreams to the next Stanley Cup, and correspondingly, the nearest restroom.

We covered the grid-iron to the hardwood, from hockey’s legends to baseball’s laughingstocks. On paper napkins we drew up our all-time all-star teams and swapped stories and rumors about the athletes we’ve known.

I've always felt a bit sorry for people who don't know what sports fans know, who don't find a kind of enduring pleasure and passion from the games, who don't experience that sweet anticipation of game day. Sports are as loyal as the family dog. The games are there for you almost every day — even Christmas. They are the gifts that keep on giving. Sure, there are problems. Tickets that are priced too high for the real fans, franchises that are foundering in every league, college athletes who rarely see the inside of a classroom, and steroids that are plentiful as M&M's.

But the games still transcend the troubles.

"Aren't sports great?" my buddy says as we remember how bad we felt when the 2007 Raptors grabbed 3^rd seed and swooned in the first round against New Jersey. We remembered the Eskimos’ 1996 Snow Bowl heart-breaker courtesy of the Argonauts as if it were played last weekend. The erroneous snap over Doug Flutie’s head. Leroy Blue’s tackle for the safety. And subsequently, downtown Eddie Brown’s improbable 64-yard catch off his feet into the end zone.

We debated who should have been the coach of the century, Scotty Bowman or the recently departed Pat Burns. We talked from Tracy McGrady to track and field, from golfing greats to Gabrielle Reece, from Mike Holmgren to Mo Cheeks, from Sean Avery to Shooter McGavin, we luxuriated in sports talk.

"Aren't sports great?"

The Oilers gave Edmonton the most surprising and delicious three months in the city's sports history in 2006. And now fans warm themselves every winter with the anticipation of another Oilers run in the spring.

They wait to see Jordan Eberle’s next toe-drag back hand. They wonder how much Nikolai Khabibulin has left. Is Linus Omark ready to explode onto the scene? Can Shawn Horcoff regain his 2008 form? How many points will Taylor Hall score?

Sports transcend tragedy. Even after the events of September 11, when sports suddenly seem as significant as a sitcom, I remember everyone in this country affected by every death in that attack. The pictures of what we saw were incomprehensible. The level of planning and sophistication of the terrorist attacks was sobering as it was frightening. Nobody knew what the proper amount of time was to mourn, to protect our safety, to begin to return to normal. We didn’t know how long it would be before we felt comfortable again, on an airplane, or in a stadium, or on a crowded street corner. But we all knew life must continue. And I know sports helped us deal with all of that tragedy in an escapist way.

We were anticipating Barry Bonds' next at-bat; the upcoming winter olympics in Salt Lake city; the unknown draftee that was Ales Hemsky, and the imminent return to the NBA of Michael Jordan.

Like the rhythm of a heartbeat, the games go on.

Look what we have waiting for us in just the next few days.

Can the Oilers sustain this unexpected 4 game winning streak that has the whole city buzzing with thoughts of another magical April? Will the Eskimos rebound from the loss of its coach and do what they haven’t done in years and reward the city a playoff worthy of its legacy? The intriguing make-shift Toronto Raptors are playing tomorrow in the historic Madison Square Garden and Andrea Bargnani might be playing the best basketball of his career while Jose Calderon has gone back in time playing in 2007-08 form.

"Aren't sports great?"

Is there a better feeling than swishing a long jump shot? Or smoking a drive down the center of the fairway? Or crossing the finish line at the end of a 10K run, or a half-marathon, or a marathon? Where else but a hockey rink can you share such unambiguous joy, or such profound disappointment with 20,000 like-minded people?

We passed four hours that felt like four minutes. A couple of quarter-aged guys, lucky enough to be sports fans.


QOTD: "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with - choose wisely."