Team Spirit is Alive and Well

I have to admit, I am kind of a fair weather fan, I enjoy watching the last quarter of any basketball or football game when our team is playing. I have a hard time sitting through 4 quarters. There always seems so much else to do in life than watch television. But I do enjoy a good 4th quarter, and I do enjoy playoffs. I love basketball playoffs. I love to gather with a big group of people and cheer our team on to victory. I love basketball because it is a shorter high intensity game. Simple rules, simple to follow. Shoot, score, defend, dribble, pass, it is all pretty on the line. I am sure I am missing the finer points of the game but I can watch it, enjoy it and follow it. Football on the other hand, I understand the basics but there are so many calls, formations and intricacies that are lost on me.

I do love a good rival game though and can cheer with the best of them. Professional sports are fun also. love to go to a sports bar in San Francisco when the 49ers are doing well and cheer them on to victory with the crowd. I may not know a wish bone from a T formation, a linebacker from a defensive back end, but I do know 4 downs is all you get and then it is the other teams turn. I got the basics. But is still love it, still love to belong, still love to cheer and root for our team. I love the sense of belonging and winning and being a part of something big.

Team spirit binds a high school, a college and even a city. It combines family and friends and gives a group a common purpose. I love to watch high school ball when we have a son playing or a neighbor. I don't enjoy it too much if I don't know anyone on the team. But is do like our local team to win, it adds school spirit and unity and a commonality among students. Nothing beats sitting on the bleachers on a warm fall night watching a rival between two good high school teams.

College is the next level and the crowds swell with each successful game. Cheerleaders, mascots, students, facility, parents, all joined for a common goal and all have a common enemy for at least a couple of hours. Professional takes it to a whole new level, the fans become rabid on a good year for more. The sports bars in San Francisco fill to capacity, the town is ablaze with the talk of the team. It is good for a school, a town a family to have a common team to cheer for and root for, we all become participants in something greater than ourselves, a fan, a winner a team member.