Nathaniel

Shockey

Read Nathaniel's bio and previous columns here

September 8, 2008

Horrible Election Draws Near: Will Philly Heroes Save My Life?

No one has ever saved my life, at least no one I know of. It might not be too much of a stretch to say that my wife saved me from throwing away my early 20s and watching sports 18 hours a day.

I have also realized that Two-Buck Chuck (the really cheap wine at Trader Joe’s) rescued us during my first year out of college, which happened to coincide with our first year of marriage.

Things finally settled down, but then this horrible presidential election came along. As much as I wanted to believe Chris Matthews when he told Jay Leno that we have two terrific candidates this year, I’m still not convinced we have one.

I’ve never felt so stressed about politics. This election could actually kill me.

This has led me to predict that 2008 might just be the year sports saved my life.

As Obama mania swept the nation, we witnessed one of the greatest Super Bowls ever, with the mighty New England Patriots falling to Eli Manning and the stunningly resilient New York Giants.

When every conservative conservative had fallen to the 72-year-old John McCain, we saw one of the great NCAA basketball championship games ever.

While Barack Obama was running away with the Democratic nomination, we watched a classic rematch between the Los Angeles Lakers, led by an overconfident Kobe Bryant, and the Boston Celtics, who were underestimated by everyone, including me.

With Obama ahead by 10 points in the polls, I watched one of the greatest tennis matches of all time, when Rafael Nadal finally overcame Roger Federer in a Grand Slam Final outside of France.

As Russia invaded Georgia and the whole world thought, “Here we go again,” Michael Phelps was beginning what many would soon be describing as the greatest individual Olympic performance ever.

And finally, I’ve been able to breathe deeply for the first time since the curious Republican vice-presidential selection of Sarah Palin. Why? First, because the Philadelphia Eagles trounced the St. Louis Rams in their season-opener this morning. And second, because as I sat here, drinking my iced coffee, the Philadelphia Phillies took the second game of a three-game series against the National League East-leading New York Mets.

It is ironic that the same teams that have nearly stolen my spirit away in the past have managed to restore it during these troubling times. In lieu of this, I plan to send the following message to the following impossibly important American public figures – Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins and all the Phillies’ starting pitchers.

Dear So-And-So,

You probably don’t know me, and I guess I don’t really know you either. But that doesn’t change the fact that your actions this fall could save my life.

Any public sports company with half a brain knows to avoid mixing sports and politics. People obsess about sports to get away from troubling things like politics, finances and the like. But this very division is what inevitably intertwines the topics of sports and politics. They are connected because so many of us care about both. I am from Philadelphia, and even if you aren’t (this especially applies to you, Jimmy Rollins, based on your recent stupid comments about Philly fans), you’re now part of a Philadelphia sports franchise. You know that we appropriately take sports rather seriously. So seriously, in fact, that if a horrendous presidential election happened to coincide with yet another devastating Philadelphia loss, people like me could actually die.

Thankfully, I was but a young buck when Joe Carter single-handedly crushed the hopes of Philadelphians in the 1993 World Series. But as I have matured as a sports fan, the impact of events such as the Detroit Red Wings’ sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1997, the Lakers’ systematic dismantling of the Philadelphia Sixers in the 2001 NBA Finals and, finally, the Eagles’ loss in 2004 to the Patriots, has begun to take its toll. I’m not sure I could handle another heartbreaking loss, especially if the election this November goes the way I fear it might.

I urge you, my heroes of Philadelphia, the same way Adrian urged Rocky when she came out of her coma, by simply saying, “Win.”

Sincerely yours,

Nathaniel Shockey

(No relation to the former Giant tight-end Jeremy Shockey)

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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