I’ve never been much of a sports enthusiast, but I am truly a fan of good writing. This week’s JOY was a convergence of the two.
The one sport I genuinely enjoy watching is basketball. It’s high-energy, and I mostly understand it: dribble down the court, try to score, and prevent the other team from doing the same. Still, when I used to watch March Madness with my dad, I realized how little I understood—like when a player fouled intentionally. There are likely many rules and strategies I miss. Even so, I love the energy: the roaring crowd, the shouting, the pep band, and the cheerleaders hurling T-shirts. (My gem of a husband caught one once and handed it right to me.) And I love it when we win.
My husband, John, and I attend our local college’s basketball games. At last weekend’s game, our girls (as we fans call them) trailed the other team until the last few minutes, when we started catching up. The score was 55-56 with the other team ahead by one. In the last second, one of our players dribbled, shot, and scored, just as the clock ran out. The crowd—including my usually reserved husband—went wild! I nearly wept with joy. After the game, the girls, as is the custom at our small college, ran into the stands to thank us and high-five the crowd. The player who made the basket came up to me. I hugged her and told her she was a hero. What a night!
So that was enough JOY to carry me through the week. Still, I decided to read about the game online. Here is what Sydney Allen, Augustana Athletics Communications, wrote: “Maliyah Elliott hit a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer to help the Augustana women's basketball team sink Minnesota Duluth 57-56 on Saturday afternoon in the Elmen Center. Vikings … held the Bulldogs … scoreless over the final 5:43 of gametime before the Elliott jumper iced the game. … The Vikings led just three times … one at the final horn.”
Listen to those phrases: “hit a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer”, “iced the game”, and "the final horn”. Now I know why people read the sports page. These writers have phrases that bring the game to life! I love reading good writing, and it turns out sports writing can be some of the best! So, I may try reading the sports page – at least some of it. Just for the JOY of hearing a unique turn of phrase.
There’s another game next weekend. It may not be a nail-biter, but it will bring me JOY. And I may just read about it afterwards.