 | The sports world wrapped its’ arms around the city of Boston last week, in the wake of the Marathon bombings. Those who are foes became friends, and rivals comforted and supported each other. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, when something like this happens. Team allegiances become unimportant when someone from the other side is injured badly, or killed; innocent victims of a diabolical plan to destroy human life. | |
Windsor - April 26, 2013 - The sports world wrapped its’ arms around the city of Boston last week, in the wake of the Marathon bombings. Those who are foes became friends, and rivals comforted and supported each other. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, when something like this happens. Team allegiances become unimportant when someone from the other side is injured badly, or killed; innocent victims of a diabolical plan to destroy human life.
The recent Boston Marathon bombings are another example of how vulnerable we are. We go along in our lives, doing day to day things like going to work, shopping for groceries, dropping the kids off here and there, and whatever else it is that we do, and then, in an instant, it’s gone. Lives are changed forever, and on a day that should have been a celebration of the human spirit, it turns to tragedy. The city of Boston will mourn those who lost their lives - Krystle Campbell, 29, Lu Lingzi, 23, and Martin Richard, 8, and the 183 others who were injured in the attack.
The outpouring of support for the city has been overwhelming. And sports can play a large role in the healing process. Much can be said about sports and the human condition. The sports world has the ability to bond us, and nowhere was it more evident than in baseball parks and hockey arenas across the country this past week. In a game at the TD Garden last Wednesday, anthem singer Rene Rancourt sang the first line of The Star Spangled Banner, and the crowd did the rest, giving me and probably everyone else watching, the goosebumps. At the end of the game, the Buffalo Sabres stayed on the ice with the Bruins, and together, with sticks raised, both teams saluted the crowd. In New York last Tuesday,the Yankees played Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”, the seventh inning stretch song of the Boston Red Sox, in honour of the city of Boston. Then , on Saturday afternoon, Diamond flew from Los Angeles to Boston to perform the song live, much to the delight of baseball fans everywhere.
I have always had a special place in my heart for Boston. I’m not much of a basketball fan these days, but when I was, I cheered for the Celtics. In hockey, I am a diehard Leafs fan, but in my younger days, when no one was looking, I also cheered secretly for the Bruins.
Now, many years later, I find myself cheering for Boston once again.
TC out
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