World Series vs the Olympics

Apparently, there are some important games going on right now. Baseball, I think. The Giants, whom I think are from New York, vs the Royals from I'm-not-sure-where. The Giants are winning, but they have at least one more game to go. If they win that game, then they're World Series Champions, which is really awesome for them, and I'm sure they're very excited about it, but I'm sure how much I care.

But here's the weird thing: I don't care about the World Series, but I do care about the Olympics. There are a few reasons for this. One is on a world-wide scale while the other, I think, is only in the US. The Olympics are more entertaining to watch than baseball, with a greater variety of sports. But one of the major reasons I like the Olympics is also a good reason to care about the World Series. I like to watch people win.

Of course, it's not just the winning that excites me - it's the story behind the winning. I like to hear about how people practiced and struggled and ultimately overcame. For example, if an athlete trained all their lives to become a world-class athlete, but then suffered an injury that almost ended their career, or lost too many times and almost gave up, but then after months and years of training and fighting for their dreams, they made it back to the Olympics, I'd find that story pretty inspiring.

Then why am I not inspired by the World Series? Theoretically, there should be a dozen stories like that mixed into a single baseball team. Not all of them have been injured, but they all had to struggle and train hard to get where they are. They overcame challenge after challenge, and now, together, they're going to become Champions. That could be a very inspiring story - if I ever heard it.

When I hear about baseball players, I generally only hear their stats. How many hits did they get last year? How many runs? How many home runs? How fast can they pitch? How far can they throw? And so forth. Sometimes I hear about who they were traded to and who they were traded for, as if people could be traded. I guess that's the real reason I care about the Olympics and not professional sports. In pro sports, we're supposed to be loyal to a team, whatever its roster is, and we hear so little about the individual athletes. In the Olympics, it's all about the athletes, and I like that.

When I look at Olympic athletes, struggling and striving to overcome their personal challenges, I see myself striving to overcome mine. When they win, it gives me hope that I can win. When I look at professional athletes playing in a big game, I don't actually see the athletes. I see guys in blue shirts trying to keep a ball away from guys in white shirts. There are no individuals - no stories, inspiring or otherwise - just two teams and a game. Granted, it can be fun to watch, but I'm not likely to get into it the same way I get into the Olympics. In the end, I don't want to see one team overcome another team. I want to see one person overcome themselves.