LOVE FOR THE GAME

love for the sport.

 

For lack of a better word, I've used the word "love," but when I think about it, I'm completely intrigued and, at times, perplexed. Sport, in all its forms, is a form of entertainment. Anyone can define their favorite form of entertainment, but football has a special place in my heart. When I first try to analyze it, I think it's just a game of people chasing a ball, but after a more in-depth look, I realize it's much more.

 

As entertaining as it is, it is also a job for professional players. You might believe that people work solely for the purpose of being paid, and you would be correct. But this is where I lose track because footballers or athletes are the only ones who play because they love their talent, but there is an age limit. One can work for over 40 years in other conventional jobs but not in football, so as a fan, it is difficult to transfer the love one had for a retiring player to an upcoming one. This is a sport that guarantees either instant gratification or disappointment at the same time, and I enjoy that bittersweet aspect of it because in football, it's never over until it's over. In fact, if it weren't for the time constraint, I believe it would flow indefinitely.

 

I'm always stuck trying to figure out whether football is a science or an art, and when that happens, friends who share my enthusiasm for a team always come through for me. It's funny to say, but my uncle always comes in for 15 minutes and would have figured out what was going on in the pitch. He'd then make an analogy about how wrestling is always a mental game and then relate it to football. He always implies that a team with so much athleticism and good mental and technical skills will always win, regardless of their opponents' abilities, because they are "balanced."

 

I have a sentimental attachment to this sport. Through it, I became less mischievous because I would be playing and have little time to misbehave. I say so because, looking at where I am right now, I am grateful for how high it has pushed my vision for life. I have translated some hard and necessary decisions made in football into my sphere of life, and they have proved to be critical in the long run.