Just A Game

Earlier in the week, Sean Taylor, Pro Bowl safety for the Washington Redskins, was shot, a wound that eventually proved fatal. This lead to a lot of discussion on sports radio. The discussion was, initially, fairly reverential, people remembering Taylor with positive memories, and this became even more the case once people heard he had not survived. Others, more at a distance, noted that Sean Taylor, like many athletes in the NFL, was not raised in a good environment, did not always hang out with the best people, and that his chances of getting involved in something like this was far more likely than someone who lived a more sheltered life.

People said the team would have to deal with a lot. They would play a game on Sunday, less than a week after the incident. The funeral would be set for Monday. They would play a game on Thursday, barely two days to prepare.

Throughout this, people said "a human life is worth more than the game", and yet, here we are, playing games. Why is that? Because games are pretty serious business. While the impact is tremendous on the local team, there are fans in other teams who see this at a distance, much like local fans probably thought less of Corey Stringer's unfortunate death (due to overheating during a practice) than Minnesota fans.

You can tell how important sports are when you have heard no discussion of canceling the game because that would create a mess that no one wants to deal with (how do you make up the game?).

In the end, many games, especially multi-million, possibly multi-billion dollar games are more than just games. And while a human life makes one forget about games for a time, the games are still more important. People will pay respects. People will remember.

And the games will go on.