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Why sport is more than just a game

29th January, 2016
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Greg Inglis is known for his ability to produce on the big stage. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Colin Whelan)
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29th January, 2016
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Why does anyone read or write about sport? To learn about Mitchell Pearce and his unsavoury antics? To find out the result of a sporting fixture?

Surely there must be something more.

As a self-proclaimed sports nut, I cannot put my finger on it.

Myself and millions of others have gained so much joy out of watching several sports. But why?

From the corruption involved in FIFA to the magical comeback of Geoff Huegill at the Commonwealth games in 2010 – and his downfall years later – sport across the board reveals a great deal about human nature.

How individuals can achieve almost anything when their passion and skill is exacted precisely and yet they can also pay the ultimate price for the bounce of a ball, ergo the tragic death of Phil Hughes.

The reality is sport is more than just a game. Sport is concerned with societies and bringing together communities.

This was evident when Redfern exploded with delight after South Sydney won the premiership.

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It’s politically concerned too, the Olympics has proven how sport has the power to unite us and at the same time alienate people from each other when boycotted.

Perhaps one of the greatest moments in the history of sport in Australia was when Cathy Freeman won Olympic gold in Sydney. It wasn’t just because Cathy was faster than her opponents either, it represented something much greater for Australian society and where we had come since the 1967 referendum.

In this it should be noted sport is made of incredibly complex tactical encounters on and off the field. Ask any professional athlete, there’s a lot more to winning than just pure skill.

The mental challenges thrown up have a profound importance in determining which team or individual is victorious.

I don’t want to ignore the intrinsic simplicity in sport either. That’s what makes it great, that’s what makes it accessible to people from all walks of life.

The match-saving mark Leo Barry took in the 2005 AFL grand final was an example of this. In reality it was a human catching a ball and nothing more. Yet it brought Swans fans to tears.

For me that is why I watch sport. That’s why I talk about sport and absorb so much sports culture.

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If we could boil sport down to its empirical realities it would mean a lot less. Sure, there would be some entertaining feats of strength and agility, but would it move us?

It’s because of the effect we allow sport to have on us as humans that makes it matter.

It is how sport helps us understand life that makes any ‘game’ more than what it seems.

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