It has been an incredibly depressing stretch in professional sports over the past 12 months. Here’s just some of what hit the news for sports fans:
- The Ray Rice domestic abuse scandal and graphic YouTube video.
- Adrian Peterson’s child abuse charges.
- Donald Sterling’s racist remarks.
- Slava Voynov’s domestic abuse charges.
- The New England Patriot’s illegally deflated game balls.
- The steady stream of cases of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in the NFL, NHL and other contact sports.
All I can say is... UGH.
Normally I look forward to watching the Super Bowl, but with everything that’s happened lately, it was difficult to think about flicking on the TV this Sunday. For the first time, I felt conflicted about the goodness of sports.
Then, I saw this YouTube video of Chris Sutter, and it made me remember how edifying sports can be.
Chris, who has Down Syndrome, was the undisputed star of the NHL All-Star Game. If you haven't seen it, take a moment:
I have two little boys, and I can only imagine how happy I would be if Chris were my son and I saw this video. You see a young, confident man, fully supported by these larger-than-life athletes, bringing a lot of joy to what tends to be a pretty drab NHL All-Star game... I mean, look at the smiles on the players?
This video gives me a lot of hope, and for that reason I'll take watching Chris Sutter over the Super Bowl any day.