In my first
year introduction to fiction class, my professor assigned the class to read Brooklyn, a novel written in 2009 by
Colm Toibin about a young girl who
immigrates to America from Ireland in the 1950s. In every possible way, I loved
this novel, but my absolute favorite part of the novel was when the main
character Eilis, was taken to a Brooklyn Dodgers game at Ebbets Field by her
boyfriend Tony and his brothers. What I loved about it so much was the fact
that while they were at the game, Eilis had not a clue as to what was going on
around her. She had never seen anything like a baseball game before. What
intrigued me so much about this sequence of the novel was that Eilis was
captivated by her boyfriend’s intensity while watching the game. She explains
how Tony doesn’t take his eyes off the game once, how he was almost entranced
by the baseball game that was taking place in front of him.
While
reading this, I couldn’t help but think about the passion that ignites in
sports fans, not just baseball, but sports in general.
I find that
passion is one of those things that tend to never really fade away. The passion
in sports fans is something that you don’t see very often. Real passion is
tattooing a Toronto Maple Leaf to the side of your neck out of utter support,
and embracing that tattoo when they are one of the worst teams in the league.
Real passion is dying your facial hair bright red in support of Toronto FC
making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, and keeping that
red facial hair, even after they lose 3-0 in the first round. Passion is skipping
class, or calling in sick to work to watch the Blue Jays play in their first
playoff game in 22 years, no matter what the circumstances, true passion
wouldn’t let anything get in the way of you missing that game. Passion is the
tingle you get in your stomach when you see your favorite team going out onto
the field, court, ice; whatever it may be.
It’s that
same passion that could drive you crazy or make you cry tears of happiness. This is
the passion that fuels your life. I think this passion is what it means to be a
sports fan, and I wouldn’t think there is any other way.
