Sports are a strange human invention when you really think about it: not made for survival nor necessity, and in retrospect can seem quite ridiculous. Why do we hit each other to gain possession of a ball or put a ball in a basket, and get millions of people shaping their whole identities around it? But so much of sports, from elite ball knowledge pulls to heated debates that you swear on your whole bloodline on and the wins or losses, actually produce moments that end up sticking with you and teaching you about life more than any class ever could. And that’s why sports are beautiful.
2017 Celtics Isaiah Thomas:
Boastingly, sports came naturally to me at a young age because I came from a city of winners. New England Patriots Super Bowl parades, where I watched right below my condo in 2015 and 2017. Banners of Celtics stars Terry Rozier, Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart draped around the old TD Garden. I loved Isaiah Thomas and his unexpected top-five in MVP voting run because I watched someone who was always overlooked: the shortest player on the court and the very last pick in the NBA draft could still dominate and help rebuild the Celtics team into a competitive playoff threat. His story felt relatable, from his short stature (I would consider myself average, though), resilience and the idea that anyone could do anything.
2021 French Open Novak Djokovic:
Down two out of five sets in the 2021 French Open final, I saw every impossible point that Novak Djokovic fought to overcome and win the tourney. The very next day, I bought a racket. One of the magics of sport is that it entertains, but it also invites you to play as well. From playing pick-up basketball at Stonegate Elementary, football games at lunchtime and golf, losing twenty balls each time I play on the course, sports are how I made some of my closest friends.
2023 Washington national championship run: Sports have high highs but even lower lows: when Mookie Betts was traded from the Red Sox in 2020, when the Celtics lost in the finals in 2022 and when Washington lost in the college football national championship against Michigan in 2023. But loss is a major part of life, and while I fell to my knees in Target seeing the Woj or Shams trade announcements (I miss you Marcus Smart), it’s a moment we can grow from. But that’s what makes the wins so much more special, like the Celtics finally winning a championship in 2024. The higher you climb up from the bottom, the more the summit means.
2026 Patriots Super Bowl run:
As I approached the end of my 12 years of school, there was something quite poetic about the Patriots making an unexpected Super Bowl run. Led by the reincarnation of Tom Brady, Drake Maye, whose jersey and signed mini-helmet lie on my bedside table, the team might have lost, but it didn’t feel like it. They’re a young team with only room to grow, so the future looks bright. While there’s so much to be nostalgic about in the old Patriots team lineup I used to watch, there’s also so much more to experience with this new team. For me, just understanding that no matter the outcomes, no matter what comes next, whether it is something I planned or not, having an open and positive mindset that everything will work out is worth carrying into whatever comes next.
