Green or Gold

The number 33. If you're Celtics fan, the first thing you think about is the great Larry Bird. If you're a Lakers fan, then you probably thought of Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Both of these players wore these numbers and were historically great NBA basketball players. In Klosterman's essay 33 he wrote about how the rivalry between these two teams in the 80's was one of the biggest in sports. Klosterman also connected this rivalry  to race in America during this time as well. He said that most African-Americans were fans of the Lakers because almost the whole team consisted of black males.On the other hand, the Celtics had three white males starters in a league that was mostly dominated by African-American athletes. Klosterman didn't stop with race though, he believed that these two teams represented everything from religion to politics and everything in between.
In the poem The End of Practice there was a dream that was described in great detail of the ending of what seemed like a high school football practice. From saying a prayer with the team, listening to the coach give his end of practice speech, and to the locker room full of players who are exhausted from a long day of work.
These two stories show how communities can come together to support a team, but they might be supporting more then a team, whether they know it or not. I feel like supporting this team only defines us in part, because it's just a sport. Some people might think of supporting a team as something more but at the end of the day, you're just a fan. But there are also different levels of fans, there are people who go all out and believe in everything the team stands for, and there are fans who just enjoy cheering and could care less if their team loses a game.I also believe that in rough times in a city, state, or even nation wide, that supporting a common team or sport can help bring a community closer together and help overcome tough times. I feel like a great example of this is every four years at the Olympics. I feel that the Olympics help bring a sense of pride and hope to our nation every time they air. This feeling of pride is the reason why communities support teams in the first place, they want to be able to say, "that's my team that won". Whether you're team is the one in the green uniforms or the gold uniforms, you support that team for a sense of pride and hope.