We Should All Be Football Fans

My fabulous brother-in-law gifted my son tickets to the Panther’s game for his birthday. Of course my little man was super stoked about going to see his team play, but my daughter was just happy to have a new experience. She is not like her sports watching mama. While my son and I are yelling at the television, she is usually in her room giggling at us.

On the morning of the game I made sure everyone is up and decorated head to toe in Panther’s gear, complete with face stickers and blue sparkling eye shadow for the me and my daughter. As we rode to the stadium my son was grinning ear to ear, while my daughter was happy for her brother, she wasn’t nearly as excited.

As we drove up, we began to see the fans hiking to the stadium from their parking lots. All decked out in blue and black, there was no mistaking we were all there for the same reason. My daughter began to laugh at some of the more elaborate gear that the super fans were dressed in while my son started rattling off names of players that sounded like jibberish to her. Our driver let us out at the corner of Mint Street, which is where all the fun begins.

We were greeted by sounds of percussion instruments, painted faces, games, and balloon creations. Now, both my daughter and son were in awe. “I didn’t know they did all this! This is awesome,” my daughter exclaimed to me. As I looked around all I could see were big smiles on everyone’s faces, not a soul was fussing, and strangers were engaged in conversations that were started simply because they were both wearing those same blue and black colored jerseys.

After a few staged photo sessions in front of the stadium, we made our way through security and began our journey to the top deck. At every turn we were greeted with smiling employees and more people that were enjoying being submersed in this atmosphere. Just before the game everyone in the stadium were on their feet to welcome “their” team and then quickly quieted for the National Anthem. The entire stadium was working in unison to create a welcoming and respectful environment. Throughout the game fans cheered together, screamed familiar chants, and engaged in conversations with complete strangers because of their instant bond over the team they were rooting for. My daughter loved it! She said it was one of the best places she’d ever been. While I’d love to say it was because of the game, it wasn’t. She had fallen in love with the positivity that reverberated throughout the stadium.

As a mom, I was so thankful that my children had this experience of pure joy. As I reflected though, I began to become a little sad. This temporary place of pure joy could not be replicated outside of the Panther’s home. I began to think of what our world could be like if we all acted like football fans every day.

Can you imagine what our world would be like if people put down their phones and started a conversation with a stranger just because? It would be such a different world if we didn’t judge others instantly or worse yet ignore other’s complete existence when we are out and about. At a football game a person that is simply wearing a team shirt would never scoff at someone in an elaborate costume with full face paint. Instead they celebrate that difference and tell them how great they look. Football fans see everyone as having the same purpose and goals. The external appearance is never a reason to not associate with a person. The color of one’s skin, whether white, brown, or painted blue is not a factor in the stadium. Everyone is united to support their team and therefore everyone is supporting each other.

What if we learned to celebrate another’s achievement the way we do when our team scores a touchdown? It would be amazing to be able to high five strangers simply because we shared a common joyful experience. I know this is the craziest idea, but what if our politicians celebrated each other’s victories instead of allowing an arbitrary “D” or “R” dictate their human reactions?

What if we started living in a society where we all finally realized we’re on the same team and are chasing the same goal? Don’t we all want peace and prosperity? We may all see a different way to get there, but we likely share the same end goal with many more people than one may think. In a football stadium those that are comfortable conservatively clapping from their seat are joined by the fanatics that are jumping up and down, banging their seats, and screaming every chant (I may be the last one, lol). No one is frustrated with the other because they show their support for the home team differently because they both realize they have the same goal. Football fans don’t let their differences divide them, but instead allow their common goals to bring them together. Can you imagine how many more goals we could accomplish in life if we didn’t allow our differences to divide us?

So, as this Monday begins I want to challenge any of you that read this to be a little more welcoming and kind this week. Speak kindly to a stranger. Celebrate someone else’s accomplishment. Support someone when things aren’t going well in their life. Try to learn something new about someone. As individuals we each have unique stories and life lessons we’ve learned, if we learn to share some of those lessons more freely, maybe we can prevent someone else from experiencing the same pain or failure we have. Better yet, maybe when we share our experiences we are giving another the chance to feel the same joy and success we have experienced. Let’s celebrate life as if we’re all fans of the same team and remember as much as misery may love company, joy has the power to be even more contagious.