Gabe Posted September 16, 2008 Report Posted September 16, 2008 At some point we will need sports By Gabriel Pruett The Orange Leader At some point the time will be right for football teams to take to the practice fields again. The emotions of Hurricane Ike will be pushed aside for a few hours. At some point a senior cheerleader will want to be back on the sideline. Her cheers will send the crowd into a roar. At some point a band member will stand up to play his or her school song with more pride than ever before. Just weeks before this time, he or she thought they might have to transfer to a different district. At some point a local refinery worker will proudly sit in the stands with his son’s jersey number on his shirt. Although his son might not play much, the father is still proud to just watch the player be a part of a team. At some point a volleyball player will be able to forget about her house being lost for at least an hour. The outcome of the match will be secondary to the fact she will cry in joy just to be able to play again beside her friends. At some point we will all long for our sporting events to return to action to help us get away from the devastation. The hours spent cheering on our team will help us not worry about flood insurance and FEMA at least for a little while. This is what sports does for all of us. Sports helped with the healing process right after Sept. 11, 2001 and more locally after Hurricane Rita. Sports will help again. The competitions we love so dearly not only are the topics around water coolers on Monday mornings but are stress relievers during the rest of the week. Since Hurricane Ike struck Southeast Texas, I like many others, stayed glued to the Weather Channel and local websites. Hurricane Ike consumed my every moment. Then came Sunday and for a brief hour I watched a NFL game. I knew I could not watch it long for there was work to be done from Arlington and the paper’s website needed updating. People were counting on information as fast as they could get it. Yet for that hour I was alone with sports and the game was my escape. There will come a time at some point when local athletes will be our escape. We will share their ups and downs and all of us should cheer for both sides. This will be a sports season like no other in Southeast Texas. The loss of homes and the number lives that will be changed will be higher than even after Hurricane Rita. We will need our sports and the athletes, cheerleaders, drill teams, bands and fans will need to participate in them. The time will come and even though it may not be tomorrow or any time this week, the time will come. At some point the time will come.
Recommended Posts