A Round of Goff
Josh Goff

Well, here it is three days until Valentine’s Day, named after, obviously — former pro wrestler Greg “The Hammer” Valentine.

All kidding aside, the holiday is in honor of Saint Valentine (the patron saint of chocolates) and the Hallmark greeting card corporation.

It is a day to let the scent of roses and cologne fill the air, get close to that special someone (your roommate’s girlfriend) and ask her to “be my valentine” (literally: drink this wine and take off your clothes).

But most of all, Valentine’s Day is about love. With that in mind (and this being a sports column), I figured there’s no better time to list some of what I love about sports.

• I love that I got to see Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire duel it out, the Bad Boys Pistons teams maul people, Mark Grace win a World Series ring and the Fab Five take over college basketball. I love that I got to see at least a little of Bird, Magic and a whole lot of the Fridge. I love that I saw Pedro and Maddux, Favre and Elway, Drexler and Dominique. I love seeing Vick, LeBron, Carmelo and the And1 crew revolutionize their sports. Most of all, I love that I saw Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson do their thing. Arguably the greatest basketball player and the greatest athlete, respectively, of all time wowing the nation at the same time. One day I’ll tell my grandchildren about the amazing feats of those two guys. And how I paid a lot of money for their shoes.

• I love walking into a small high school’s gym when the entire town shuts down to watch the home team play. The post player may be 6-foot-2, and you probably won’t see any dunks, but you see kids in an intense battle not only for themselves, the team and the school — but the entire town. You feel three, maybe four generations of school spirit resonating through the gym, and you see kids on the court who will forever remember — and be revered for — the big win over the rival.

• I love that it costs $3 to get into that game.

• I love the sounds of sports: a baseball (or softball) popping against the leather of a glove, the crack (or ping) of a bat, dugout chatter, a basketball on hardwood, the squeaking of sneakers, the stomping of coaches, football pads popping and the school’s fight song. I don’t, however, love the sounds of a fastball blasting into a ribcage or cup or an ACL exploding.

• I love option football and the five-wide set, the full-court press and the 30-foot jumper, the double steal and the play at the plate and the red card.

• I love the way sports bring people together. Ernie, Tyrone, Habib and Umberto might argue all week about politics, religion and racism; but come Saturday evenings in the fall they’re in the stands high-fiving and chest bumping one another.

• I love the beauty of Wrigley Field, the atmosphere in the bleachers, the flavor of the bratwursts. I love beating the Cardinals, watching Mark Prior and Kerry Wood pitch and watching Sosa torque himself halfway into the ground missing on a curveball.

• I love the electricity in a packed, frenzied War Memorial Stadium or Bud Walton Arena. I love having watched Nolan Richardson coach a Razorbacks team to a national championship. I loved watching Scotty Thurman shooting over Antonio Lang’s outstretched arm, Corliss Williamson repping the Que Dogs and Roger Crawford perched atop the rim.

• I love watching Matt Jones play football. Additionally, I hate watching Matt Jones play football.

• I love covering sports as my job. It’s great sitting on press row at Estes Stadium or in the Farris Center, a few feet from the action. That’s not without a downside though, as I do not love ending up with a soda or a large player in my lap. I love watching the Bears come back to upset a nationally ranked team that hadn’t lost in conference in their house and silencing the buffoons in their student section. I love watching the Sugar Bears when they are on, wreaking havoc defensively and nailing 3s, seemingly at will.

• I love getting to know the people involved, from players and coaches to athletic directors and radio announcers. You can learn a lot from talking to them and listening to their stories. And while — as a sportswriter — you can’t become a cheerleader, you can sure have more interest in the on-goings.

• And lastly, I love the feel-good nature of sports and the release they provide. So I leave you with a quote telling of why sports, and their coverage, is better than the “important” stuff in the world.

“The sports page records people’s accomplishments; the front page nothing but their failures.”

— Earl Warren, former chief justice of the United States Supreme Court