Why do we care so much?

By Mark Nagi

I feel like I write an article like this one at least twice a year, typically when one of my sports teams loses in a crushing or an emotionally taxing manner.

I ask the question…why do we care so much about sports? I mean, with everything we have going on in our lives that actually matters … our families, our jobs, maintaining a roof over our heads … what is it about sports that plays with our emotions, our psyche, our very souls?

I thought about this last week when I was back up north, watching my New York Rangers play the L.A. Kings at Madison Square Garden.

Here’s some background. I grew up about 3 hours north of New York City and became a Rangers fan at the age of 6. The Rangers made it to the Stanley Cup Final that year, losing in 5 games to the legendary Montreal Canadiens.  For years the Rangers found ways to fall short, and the chant of “19-40” could be heard in hockey arenas across North America.

The Rangers are one of the NHL’s Original 6 franchises, but despite the limited number of teams in the league (expansion didn’t happen until 1967), they hadn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1940.

But 1994 was different.

That was the year I graduated from SUNY Geneseo, a 25-minute drive south from Rochester on the western side of the state. I had been accepted to grad school at UT-Knoxville but was scared to death to travel that far from my upstate home. That spring the Rangers went on a magical run, eventually beating Vancouver in the Final in 7 games, ending a 54-year curse, and forever ending the “19-40” chant.

It sounds weird, but I took that win as a sign that everything was going to be ok.  I moved to Knoxville two months later and eventually chose to spend my adult life in East Tennessee.

In the 30 years that have followed I have continued to watch the Rangers on TV and in person, making trips to Ottawa, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Detroit, Washington D.C., Nashville, Columbus, Toronto… and eventually I hope to see the Rangers play in every NHL arena.

Rangers games have even turned into a good opportunity to bond with my oldest daughter. Over the years we’ve seen the Rangers play eight or so times. Going to those games is always a pleasure, especially at their home of Madison Square Garden. It’s one of my favorite places on this planet.  I’ve seen games there since 1992 … and rarely see them win.

So, it wasn’t a surprise that last week my daughter and I were in MSG and watched the Kings jump out to a 5-0 lead and eventually knock off the Rangers 5-1.  And the game wasn’t nearly that close. Last June the Rangers were two wins from making it to the Stanley Cup Final. Today they are reeling, and well on their way to not even making the playoffs in the Spring.

I just turned 52.  I hope to live a long life, but even if I get to be 100 years old, I don’t know if I’ll ever see my Rangers hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup again. I mean, in the last 84 years they’ve only done it once, so maybe I should be thankful that I’ve seen it happen.

I don’t know what it is… but if the Rangers do win another Cup, I know that my life will be better, and if they don’t my life will be worse. I’d imagine that some of our readers have similar beliefs with Tennessee once again beating Alabama after 15 long years in the desert. And I’m sure that after Tennessee’s baseball team won its first national title last summer that there was a pep in their step.

I don’t know why… but sports matter.