By and large, sports are pretty awesome. I have learned to keep my childhood favorite teams at a healthy distance and I advise all Chicago sports fans to do the same. I spend most of the year in awe of the artistic displays of the most brilliant athletes in the world.
I am even beginning to pay more attention to leagues that I did not grow up watching. The CBS Sports soccer in-studio crew is excellent. Clips from the show have been in my YouTube algorithm all year and one of them reminded me to watch the UCL Final. I had a blast watching Man City win it for the first time — as well as the commentary on social media about Meg The Stallion’s rumored boyfriend, Romelu Lukaku.
Over the summer I also took in some regular-season WNBA games. The Las Vegas Aces are a blast to watch. A’Ja Wilson is not their primary ball handler, but she absolutely controls the pace of the game. She is a truly dominant, all-time great basketball player.
It has been a great sports year. There was even a real college football national championship controversy. It has been so long since I had experienced one of those. Scorned college football fans are truly a delight.
All of that being said, sports involve human beings, so they are far from perfect. Saudi Arabian blood money is flowing into sports now more than ever, and it is still like pulling teeth to get Black people hired as head football coaches and offensive coordinators at the collegiate and NFL levels.
Money is ugly at the highest levels, so I am not holding my breath for sports to become a leader in the fight for justice for all. But seeing that it is Christmas time, I do have a few requests.
If old sports St. Nick is flipping through the sports sites, maybe he can grant a few of my wishes for the holiday season. I have been a pretty good boy this year. I haven’t gotten into any fights with internet trolls and bots or IRL. Also, my requests will make sports better for everyone.
