The Lehigh Valley, like the Eagles, thrives on competition
So, the Eagles are going to the Super
Bowl. And their diehard fans will eat, sleep, and drink Eagles for the next week right up until game day. And on game day, well, they’ll be just plain berserk.
They’ll pack local bars, hold parties at their houses, and some will even pay an unbelievable $6,000 for a ticket to travel to Phoenix and watch in person. They’ll scream, smack high-fives, pump out their chests, and somehow believe they’re part of this incredible team and their journey.
What is it about sports that draw us in so emotionally? We wear their jerseys, paint our faces, despise players we really don’t know, and spew hatred for American cities we’ve never been to. We’re unapproachable after a loss while the multimillionaire coaches and players move on, saying they’ll work hard and do better next time.
Maybe it’s just about believing in something finite, something that isn’t ambiguous, and in the end, something that either breaks our hearts or makes us feel euphoric. Something we can find in a particular play or referee’s decision, so we can point our frustration, or maybe it’s a clear victory in our lives in which we can totally rejoice.
Or, maybe it’s about the excellence. Maybe it’s about seeing people perform at their absolute peak and witnessing near perfection. Maybe it’s about coming together with others as a fan base. Maybe for the patriotic types, it’s about our incredible armed forces waving an American flag as big as the field as our national anthem is sung or the impressive show of national strength during a jaw-dropping inspiring military flyover.
It struck me recently when I visited Rome. I was in total awe of the Colosseum. In my mind, I envisioned the competitions that took place. We use terms today like “leaving it all on the field.” Well, those fearless gladiators did in the ultimate way. They gave their lives in those competitions, yet thousands upon thousands packed that wonder of the world to see it.
My dad introduced me to sports at a young age. His family situation didn’t allow him to play. It was all about work for him, but he loved watching sports, and his love drew me to it. I loved the competition. I loved the victory. I feared the defeat, but I still couldn’t wait to get involved. I can recall like it was yesterday when Muhammad
Ali fought Sonny Liston for the world heavyweight championship. My dad and I were glued to the radio. I was a nervous wreck hanging on to every descriptive word of Ali’s upset victory. He conquered “Goliath,” and we rejoiced in it.
In the fall, I loved to watch Allen play Dieruff on Thanksgiving Day in J. Birney Crum Stadium with people from the east and west sides of town. It was an emotionally packed house and almost guaranteed there would be some kind of rival fight on the track surrounding the field. It was an example of community pride. A bit scary but always thrilling.
I loved watching the Allen Canaries take on Central Catholic in basketball at the shrines of local sports, the Little Palestra and Rockne Hall. Those games were nail-biting thrillers, and the rabid fans who could touch the players in those packed venues made it even more memorable.
So, what’s my point? As humans, we are attracted to competition. We want to succeed, whether it be competing within our communities, in our country, or with other nations. Somehow, some way someone must dominate. Unfortunately, this also may be what has led to many wars and the loss of millions of lives, but it doesn’t seem to stop. It’s in our DNA.
Without getting too heavy, let’s enjoy next Sunday, and if you’re an Eagles
fan, like most of you are, if they win, let’s rejoice. We’ll talk about it for years and feel great when we speak of it. If they lose, we will complain about some referee call or some player who didn’t fulfill his responsibility. Still, we’ll move on in life and somehow, some way, we will find something new to compete for.
One thing I’ve learned about competition, you build love for the people you compete with and respect for those who either beat you or you defeated.
That’s kind of like the Lehigh Valley. We’re competing against other larger, once more successful regions. Too often, we don’t get the respect from others outside our region. But we battled hard, and boy did we ever rise to the top. Impressively, we continue to rise because we’re a determined bunch.
And somehow, like the Eagles, we will continue to compete. Despite what happens this Sunday, we will keep marching on because, after all, life’s a journey and we have little choice but to believe.
In the end, we’ll leave it all out there knowing we did our best to pave the way for generations to come.
Tony Iannelli is president and CEO of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. He can be reached at tonyi@lehighvalleychamber.org.