AltTulsa doesn't usually have much to say about college sports—there are plenty of other writers and bloggers who cover athletics in all its glory. But we did see a washingtonpost.com column that caught our attention and made us think about sports and their impact on "real life."
Writing this week, the Post's Dan Steinberg noted a recent onslaught of "redemption-through-football" stories in the press. Steinberg cited examples from the Salt Lake Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, the Savannah Morning Sun, ESPN.com, and more.
Today's USA Today continues the trend, with a front-page box that read, "For Hokies, it's time to cheer."
Enough all ready, Steinberg says. "Why do we have to wring some sort of grandiose tales of societal healing out of sporting events?" Steinberg asks. "In what way does football provide comfort to the people who actually need to be comforted; say, the victims' parents?"
Good questions. Like Steinberg, we wonder how football came to be seen as the redemptive force in campus life. Like Steinberg, we think that healing and normalcy would come from any number of campus activities and events, including history class or breakfast at the school cafeteria.
Steinberg's conclusion: "Root for the parents whose kids died. Leave football games out of it."
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