Let me preface this with saying that I agree with Niky and what she say said here, about how the Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melynk should watch what he says on Twitter. Athletes all over are under a close watch by teams and will get punished if they cross the line. Melnyk is also a guy I don’t really care for after his comments regarding Matt Cooke.
With that point, I agree with Niky. While the title of her article does catch the eye and draw readers (we love it) and I agree with her stance that Melnyk shouldn’t say it’s “just a game” because of his title, that fact remains that it is just a game.
“What I see as the most problematic element of this tweet, though, is the message he sends by saying “it’s just a game”. Professional sports, for better or worse, are so much more than a game to so many. For some, it’s a career. A passion. People lose friendships, marriages, and in rare, unfortunate cases, their lives over these “games.”
Professional sports are a career for many and we, as in fans, are passionate about them. They call us “fans” for a reason as it’s short for fanatic. The problem with the above statement that I have is the last sentence. I’m hoping that Niky is referring to the actual players and not the fans. I can understand players losing friendships, marriages and in some cases their lives because of their career of choice. That makes sense. When this pertains to fans, though, it’s pathetic.
It IS just a game.
Be passionate about it. Athletes want that more than anything. For a fan to lose a friendship or marriage over a game is pathetic. No one can twist it around and say that it’s more than a game because it’s not. Fans become too emotionally involved to the point that they will go after someone on Twitter with death threats, verbally and physically assault others over a team.
Ask Bryan Stow’s family the importance of the game of baseball. You remember Stow, right? He was the Giants fan that suffered permanent brain damage as a result of an attack by two Dodger fans. He was beat because he has on the opposing team’s jersey. Ask his family and I’m sure they’ll say he was beaten over a ballgame. A game that no one remembers the score of and a game that had no impact on anything crucial.
As much as the athletes love the game they play, they, more than anyone else, realize that it’s just a game. Recently, Michael McKenry talked to me and told me that baseball isn’t the most important thing. He said he wouldn’t trade it for the world, but there are so many more pressing concerns in the world other than sports. To quote McKenry, “It’s just a game.”
Ask Matt Kemp who recently approached a fan that was in a wheelchair last week wearing a Dodgers jersey in San Francisco about the importance of baseball. After a three-game sweep to the Giants and another bad statistical series for Kemp, he walked over to the fan after the game. He shook his hand, gave him the jersey and shoes off his back and feet, and talked to the kid. Kemp echoed McKenry when he said what we do is just play a game. “Being an athlete puts me in the position to make someone’s day.” Kemp said he knew the kid didn’t have long to live, so he wanted to make him smile for just a day.
But no, keep thinking that it’s just more than just a game. If the athletes can see it, maybe the fans should too.
The athletes know the responsibilities of the job. They know the injury risks and the risks of the people that surround them. They’ll gladly trade that to play a game in which they make more money than anyone reading this will and doing something they loved their whole lives.
“If anyone should be embarrassed, it’s Eugene Melnyk. Because it’s so much more than a game. Because it’s the cup.”
Melnyk should be embarrassed for the way he shed light on his organization. No question. However, regardless if you’re a fan, athlete or owner, it is just a game. Some may have more at stake than others, but that’s on them. If you gamble your life savings away on a game, I don’t feel bad for you at all.
Win, lose or draw, athletes, fans and owners move on. If it were more than a game, it’d have an everlasting impact on our society.
Guess what? It doesn’t.
