#97... Rethink your support for professional sports

Okay, here I go again, making enemies -- with sports fans this time. But wait -- I'm a sports fan of sorts, and I still think that today's suggestion is one worth considering if you love our planet.

Really.

I was a huge Edmonton Oilers fan in the '80s. I even went to a few playoff finals back in the era of Gretzky, Anderson, Kurri, Messier, Lowe, Coffey, and all those amazing guys. (Unfortunately, those were the 1983 nailbiters they lost to the NY Islanders). I've cheered for them ever since, especially in 2006 when the team went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals against the Carolina Hurricanes. Where football is concerned, I cheer for the Saskatchewan Roughriders because my Rider Nation roots run deep, and have enjoyed a few winning Grey Cup games, especially the one in 1989, when I was the only one at the houseparty who was cheering for the Riders.

But...

When I think about grown men making outrageous amounts of money for playing games while my homeless brothers and sisters have nowhere to sleep, I can't help but question the wisdom of supporting professional sports. There's a millionaire in my city who seems to think his team is entitled to a new hockey arena to play in, but he wants the city to pay for it, and there's definitely something wrong with that kind of thinking! The city has enough other things and people to take care of with its tax monies!

I also wonder about the much-discussed obesity epidemic that isn't improving at all as couch potatoes channel surf between sports stations rather than getting out and doing sports ourselves...

And when I consider our planet, which is slowly but surely running out of resources because we're spending them foolishly, I have my doubts about the wisdom that insists that our athletes and teams fly all over the place, burning fossil fuels as if petroleum and fresh air will last forever. I wonder at the carbon spent to heat and light huge stadiums and arenas whose ticket prices are far beyond the purchasing power of middle- and lower-income families. And there's a lot more thinking and speculating I do on this topic, but I doubt anyone really wants to read any more, and I don't want to write any more. I really don't like being a killjoy.

But I guess all these thoughts are the reason I'm not the really enthusiastic sports fan I used to be. These days I'm all in favour of local community sports, informal sports, and family sports in the area park across the street!



P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Try here.