This wild ride in sports is why we watch
New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns reacts after making a basket during the second half of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in New York. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
If you are a sports fan, what a glorious spring it has been.
It's a spring that reminds us how fierce competition can uplift and ennoble its participants and its followers. It also has provided a much-needed contrast to the shameful and demoralizing drama being performed in a different arena by many of our political leaders.
The wild ride in sports includes the Rory McIlroy roller coaster in the Masters golf tournament; the improbable, incredible, late-charging victory from dead last by Golden Tempo, making Cherie DeVaux the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby; and an amazing spate of basketball and hockey playoff games decided in the last seconds of regulation or in overtime. It all culminated on the thrill-o-meter — at least for now — with this past week's stunning New York Knicks' comeback from a 22-point deficit with less than 8 minutes remaining to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 115-104, in overtime.
The results checked off the traditional boxes for why we watch the games.
Entertainment, yes, of the white-knuckle, stomach-churning variety.
Escapism, sure, the kind that spirits you away from whatever is dogging your life.
Appreciation for displays of sublime physical skills, certainly, on a seemingly endless loop.
Feeling a part of something larger than yourself, absolutely; watching these contests combats isolation by creating a sense of unity and community, what the sociologist Emile Durkheim called collective effervescence, a wonderfully inspiring amalgam of joy, energy and connection.
The games, tournaments and races have had other benefits, too. Like reinforcing the idea that it's never too late, that success is always possible, that dire odds can be overcome, that resourcefulness and resilience are essential qualities in making your way through life.
Sports also is serving a subtler but no less important function by holding a mirror to the gamesmanship poisoning our politics as both major parties attempt to redraw the lines of congressional districts. The effort is nothing less than an attempt to predetermine outcomes, which always has been anathema in athletics. There is little that causes revulsion in sports fans like efforts to fix a game, to rig what is supposed to be a fair competition. That is exactly what this redistricting fever is.
Fair competition on and off the playing field is sacrosanct to most Americans. Huge majorities of us support antitrust laws, for example, to ensure fair competition among businesses. The importance of fair competition is rooted in our language. We want an honest shake, an even playing field, to start on equal footing. We cherish the notion that "on any given day ..."
Yet much of the uneasiness and frustration permeating our country is rooted in a belief that all sorts of arenas are not fair, from the economy to college admissions and now voting. The games have been a welcome contrast.
No analogy is perfect, of course. To be fair, sports teams also try to make themselves as strong as possible to give themselves the best chance of winning. But what's happening in congressional politics is more akin to one NFL team being handed the rights to all football players from Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State, Michigan, LSU, Penn State, Notre Dame, and, well, you get the picture.
Baseball player Jackie Robinson, as fierce a competitor as ever lived, once said, "We ask only that we be permitted to compete on an even basis, and if we are not worthy, then the competition shall, per se, eliminate us."
Robinson was speaking about Black players being allowed to compete in the major leagues, but his words describe a maxim in sports. Let the best person win.
Our politicians should let our games be their guide.
Columnist Michael Dobie is a retired member of the Newsday editorial board.
Michael Dobie is a retired member of the Newsday editorial board.
