Snyder’s Soapbox: We, sports fans, are the smart ones, even with all the heartbreak

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Welcome to Snyder’s Soapbox! Here, I pontificate about matters related to Major League Baseball on a weekly basis. Some of the topics will be pressing matters, some might seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and most will be somewhere in between. The good thing about this website is that it’s free, and you are allowed to click away. If you stay, you’ll get smarter, though. That’s a money-back guarantee. Let’s get to it.

I wrote this before Game 7 of the NBA Finals. I wanted the message of gratitude to resonate through in case my favorite team ends up losing (editor’s note: sorry, Matt, they did). And if they won, I didn’t need to be writing this column instead of just enjoying it. 

I just wanted to say thank you for existing, sports. 

The amount of fun and joy sports teams can provide us is truly remarkable and it goes beyond just rooting for a team. I’ve watched all but one NBA playoff game with my wife and we’ve had tons of fun in doing it. I went to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals with my dad to see the Pacers clinch the East at home for the first time ever. He started taking me to games in Market Square Arena when I was 7 years old and the big names were Steve Stipanovich and Herb Williams. 

I had a similarly spiritual sports experience in 2016 with my beloved Cubs. 

And I just want every single sports fan out there to experience similar things. So many of us have. Most of us have. 

You know who doesn’t get to feel like this? People who don’t like sports. I’m grateful that I’m not on that list. 

Look, I’m a huge to each his/her/their own guy. That is to say, if you don’t like something that I like or vice versa, that’s perfectly fine with me. People have their own tastes and that’s a good thing. Diversity in taste and opinions, to me, is something that’s important in society. There is, of course, a segment of the population that doesn’t care about sports. That’s fine. There’s also a small segment of that group who actively mock those of us who do care about sports. 

Not only does this not bother me, but I actually feel sorry for those people. Man, they are missing out in such a major way. 

Being a sports fan is so much more than any negative label the naysayers want to throw on it. There are relationships enhanced by the common love of certain teams. We’ve all had so many experiences with friends and family members tied to sports. How many conversations have revolved around your favorite team’s success and heartbreak? 

One of my favorite things about my job is being able to witness the joy that sports brings to so many people. 

I will never forget walking around the concourse in Chase Field immediately after the Rangers won the 2023 World Series. Remember, this was the first Rangers championship ever. They lost back-to-back World Series in 2010-11. I walked by a Rangers fan who had tears running down his face. That’s the good stuff. I’ll never tire of seeing moments like that. 

I remember the raucous Phillies crowd in 2022, especially after Bryce Harper’s first-inning home run in Game 3. This was a wild-card team that was nearly dead in the first round and now on the cusp of taking a 2-1 World Series lead. Of course, later that series the Astros won it all at home. Finally. I had seen seven straight champions clinch the World Series on the road and it was nice to finally see a home crowd get to experience it in person. 

I still look back in joy at the 2018 NLCS in Milwaukee. I sometimes walk around the concourse during the middle innings of games just to get a feel for the crowd (again, I’m a sucker for seeing sports fans experiencing joy). It was Game 2 and Travis Shaw hit a home run to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead. I saw a guy running back toward what appeared to be his group of friends, yelling “this is so much f—ing fun!” 

Yes, gimme all of that! 

The Nationals run in 2019 was particularly absurd. We all remember the record, right? They were — repeat it with me — 19-31 at one point. They were nearly done in the wild-card game, but staged a late comeback. They then trailed in Game 7, but Howie Kendrick hit a home run off the foul pole. Generations of Nationals fans are going to talk about that team and that home run. 

We could even dive deeper. There are always stories from the runs of great teams passed down from older generations to their kids and grandkids. If you’re reading this right now, the goal is for you to be thinking back at some of your fondest memories of sports fandom. What was that team? What was that run? Who did you enjoy watching with? Who did you talk to about all the games and plays? 

Aren’t you smiling right now, almost giddy? 

That’s what sports does for us. 

It doesn’t even have to be the big championship. I mentioned the Brewers. Rockies fans have the miracle 2007 run to the World Series. The Rays have had several huge moments and runs. How about the Edgar Martinez double for the Mariners? The Padres have been very fun this decade and what about the 1984 NLCS (I can talk about that now even though my 6-year-old self was devastated)? 

We could run through every team and a list of all the amazing runs of success that brought family and friends together to elaborate on “how about those [insert any team in any sport]?!?!” I know that every time IU basketball wins a big game, I’m going get a text full of excitement from my mom and it just makes the joy that much better. How about all the group text chains about sports and how much more frantic those get during amazing team runs?  

Look, sports don’t replace great family relationships or social interactions or professional successes or anything else that is real in life, but it’s an enhancer. Being a sports fan is an escape from real-life responsibilities. No other “escape from reality” entertainment can give us what sports do. My family and I love roller coasters. I took my son to see Metallica twice for his 18th birthday and it was an amazing weekend. Books, TV shows and movies are excellent escapes. 

I just don’t think any of this stuff can give you the highs of sports and that’s because they don’t break you with the lows. And, really, the X-factor here is that of the unknown. When I went into Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, there was a chance the Cubs were still never going to win the World Series in my lifetime. You don’t get that elsewhere. I knew Metallica was gonna show up and kick ass when my son and I were there. But the Cubs could’ve lost Game 7.

It isn’t just sports fandom, either. Sports employ people. So many people. Not just athletes and executives, but the chefs and the trainers and the ticket salesmen and the concession stand attendants. How about going all the way down to youth sports? Sports can do wonders in helping kids build self-esteem while also teaching them to to deal with failure at a young age. Some of the moments I’ve been most proud of my kids happened in sports and it wasn’t due to performance, but instead good sportsmanship. I don’t think anything better equipped me for being a good teammate as an adult than playing high school football and baseball. 

Don’t ever let anyone tell you sports are anything but great. 

It was after Game 1 of the NBA Finals when my brother texted me and said something along the lines of, “stuff like this is why we feel sorry for people who aren’t sports fans.” He’s right. You just can’t get this stuff elsewhere. 

Here’s to you, sports. I salute you. You are so awesome. Thank you for existing. I’m so very, eternally grateful for you, even when you break my heart.

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