Art and Sports

I have never liked Sports. I have never really known why, they simply do not interest me. I am much more into things that engage me emotionally and intellectually. Things that amaze me, or just make me laugh.

Recently the YouTuber Devin Graham posted a video that got me to thinking about sports in a different way.



At the end he linked to two more of his videos that I had seen before, but I had not given them as much thought as I had seeing them all at once.





Watching them all together made me really examine why I didn't like sports, because these video are sports videos, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of them.

I've come to the conclusion that I do not like organized sports because of the forced rivalries, and the manufactured hatred that the teams impose upon their players and fans. (No, not every sports fan or player is hateful, but there are a LOT that are.)

Devin Graham's videos showcase people who enjoy sports outside of the rivalries and multi-million dollar paychecks. The people in his videos are doing things that they love to do and it shows. It reminded me of a quote that I loved from the movie Speed Racer. Speed's mother is telling him why she goes to the races, even though it scares her to watch him risk his life.

"Speed, when I watch you do some of the things you do....I feel like I'm watching someone paint or make music. I go to the races to watch you make art. And it's beautiful... and inspiring... and everything that art should be."

I have come to the conclusion that I do not hate sports, I just don't like competitive sports. I like watching people play sports when they are doing it for the joy of it.

To paraphrase Mom Racer, Watching people doing what they love to do is beautiful and inspiring and it's everything that sports should be.