An Ode to Sports

For those of us from Detroit, these have been trying times. Michigan, our state, seems to be in a one state recession. Detroit itself, is wrapped up in scandal as I talked about earlier this week. However, we have one bright spot-- and that is our sports teams. Last night the Detroit Tigers pulled off a sweep of the Evil Empire New York Yankees--on the road, in their last series in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. This is a feat the Tigers have not managed since 1966! Last night the Detroit Pistons defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 100-77 in Game 6 of their first round series to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Orlando Magic. Finally, also last night, and into the early morning on the East coast, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Colorado Avalanche 8-2 to sweep their Western Conference semifinal and advance to the conference finals for the second year in a row.

I am not knowledgable enough to know whether this is unprecedented or not. What I do know is that this is tremendously exciting. Last year was similarly exciting as both the Pistons and Red Wings each reached the conference finals. We are in a period of Detroit sports where 3 of our 4 major professional teams are playing at high, sometimes dominant levels. They are all competitors for the championship in their respective sports and it is great to be a Detroit sports fan.

I think that in the difficult times that the state of Michigan and Detroit are undergoing, it is important to have sports to unite and uplift the city. And that is the power of sports. While many see it as a frivolous or tangential to societal issues, I see it as crucial. Not merely as an opiate of the masses, or merely as a distraction, but probably yes to both of those accusations as well. Sports has a chance to unify and uplift an area when times are down. Sports stadiums, like Comerica Park in downtown Detroit, have the power to be a driving force in revitalizing a downtown area. Sports, in the final analysis, is a soothing cocktail at the end of a long hard week. It is a couch for you to plop yourself down on and relax. These may be distractions but they are good distractions, and I think we can all agree that times like these, Detroit needs the distractions.