My Open Letter To Sports

Dear Sports:

You gave me great times and greater hopes. The pinnacle of those hopes have never been met. No championships in my 24 years on this earth. I have been through so few moments where a championship was even remotely close. A Mitch Williams fastball to Joe Carter, and an errant throw from a physically exhausted Donovan McNabb took those away ever so quickly. Beyond that, I'm subject to the Flyers trying to beat a vastly superior Detroit Red Wings team in 1996, or a weak Sixers team wishing that their megastar, Allen Iverson, could carry them past Shaq and Kobe in 2000. All of which were foolish hopes.

Now in the middle of some kind of sports purgatory, I have no hopes, no aspirations. All of my Philly teams are at crossroads. The Eagles are in disarray. The Phillies think too highly of themselves. The Flyers are a few years away from being a serious contender. The Sixers are dead to me. Where is my team that will transcend the mire that plagues Philadelphia sports and give me a much deserved championship? What have I done to deserve such a long and painful amount of suffering all for giving all my energy to hope that my team will win? Why do things never work out in my teams favor?

As if to add to my pain, the left for dead New York Giants beat the 18-0 New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. Eli Manning, the once physical embodiment of mistakes and an underperforming star, suddenly emerged as a confident and capable QB that led HIS team to the most improbable of championships. Seemingly a nod to remind me, at the same time, how amazing and out of left field a championship can sneak up and bite a team playing at its height at just the right time. The golden venom flowing through the veins of a particular team where winning just happens. As if it is out of their control or power. Like Eli Manning pulling away from 3 Patriots defensive linemen only to chuck a football to David Tyree wearing a Rodney Harrison jacket and come down with the football in a play that will be remembered forever.

Much like when I see a guy with a girl that is way out of league I recoil in horror. The mere sight perplexes me as if to wonder what is wrong with this world, that is how I felt watching this Giants team come out of nowhere to win this Super Bowl.

If I take the time to think about the guy who "out kicked his coverage" by nabbing such a vastly superior beauty, I can take solace in the fact that if this kind of fortune can happen to him, then it can happen to anyone, even me. At any moment my teams' light can click and amazing things can happen.

So where is my championship? My win? My fortune? It hasn't appeared yet, and this loathsome turn of events has pushed me to the edge as to wonder if any sports championship will ever come my way.