Sports haters lose out on NFL drama

What the ‘sports ball’ folks are missing in their race to derision is the amazing emotional rush that we enthusiasts sometimes receive as payoff.

Now that we’ve had a chance to catch our collective breath, here’s something for those who still don’t understand.

In the runup to the Big Game, many people around here expressed opinions concerning the New England Patriots. Most were about odds of victory. There were a few malcontents who wanted to make it about politics — there are always those who can’t separate performers from their political opinions, which is a subject for another day — but the folks to whom I’m addressing this are another sort altogether. They’re the ones who scoff at rooting for professional athletes.

This type of opinion was summed up best for me by a comment I saw online. In a thread about the upcoming game, this hater wrote, “Sportsball! Is there anything better?” In a word, no. I understand the sarcasm. Professional athletes are often wellpaid young men without a great deal of book-learned knowledge who live lives so blessed that it seems odd, indeed, that other people without such benefits will root for them to be even further enriched. I get the disdain.

However, what the “sportsball” folks are missing in their race to derision is the amazing emotional rush that we “sportsball” enthusiasts sometimes receive as payoff.

For instance, take this past Sunday.

Paul Pierce returned to Boston for what was likely his final appearance as a player. After 15 years with the Celtics, he didn’t choose to leave. He was traded. But we understood his love for this city, his team and its fans. And when he stepped on the court Sunday, he received an ovation that brought him to tears. Then, with the Celtics safely in the lead (and after repeated chants of “We want Paul!” from the fans) he was sent into the game with about 20 seconds remaining on the clock. Despite being on the opposing team, every person in the building — including the current Celtics –— hoped he’d make one final basket. And he did, drilling a three-pointer. It was too corny for any scriptwriter, but it happened.

Then there was that ridiculous Patriots comeback. The hero was a man ignored by every other team in the NFL through the first five rounds of the draft; who only got his chance to play regularly because of injury to a well-liked starter; who has reached an age where most others in his sport have long since retired; who was unfairly penalized and denied permission to play at the beginning of the season; and whose mother is battling illness, but still traveled to the game to see her son play for the first time all year. His team overcame a greater deficit than any other team on such a big stage and he cemented his standing as the greatest of all time when, in the first half, it appeared he might be losing claim to that status via the worst play of his season.

Script that and — if it got past studio heads without being considered too preposterous — it would be panned from coast- to- coast as a wildly impossible mish-mosh of saccharine sweetness that had made all the critics gag.

That’s why “sportsball” can’t be bettered. It contains real drama and real emotion that would be considered insipid if performed by actors. Unlike in theater or the movies, there isn’t always a happy ending or even a clean one. But, once in a great while, it is as perfectly rewarding as any entertainment available.

I pity those who don’t get that.