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Imrem: Giving thanks for the respite offered by sports

Sports are among the blessings to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day.

That expression of gratitude never has been a slam dunk, gimme putt or open-net goal.

Some days, some months and some years, sports seem to be trivial pursuits that we can care about even though they don't really matter.

Baseball doesn't wipe out diabetes. Football doesn't house the homeless. Basketball doesn't prevent global conflict.

Yet some other days, months and years - like now - I think we would go nuts if these silly games that people play didn't divert us from witnessing the worries of the world.

In a land where the right to assemble is precious, very few places accommodate more people at one time than sports venues.

How many times have we heard, "If we cancel this game and stay home, the terrorists win"?

Sports symbolize who we are and what we do and we defy anyone to dare to deprive us of them.

Whenever I begin to consider sports to be meaningless, I think back to when the Bears were looking for a head coach to replace Mike Ditka in January of 1993.

As the search dragged on and on, I received a message to return a phone call from a reader who wanted to recommend someone for the job.

When I reached him his voice was weak and weary and I apologized for waking him.

"I wasn't sleeping," he said, "I'm waiting to go in for brain surgery later this week."

My goodness, he was about to undergo brain surgery but still was concerned about the Bears' coaching search.

How many others with serious medical issues need to take a timeout and escape into sports for at least a few minutes at a time?

Thank you very much for that, sports.

More recently, the terrorist attacks in Paris shook us from our comfort zone.

NFL, college and high school football games were there to interrupt our grieving for France and the world.

It felt awkward to change channels from news to sports but my eyeballs would have burned out from watching reports out of Europe every second of that weekend.

Once again a hearty thanks, sports, for providing temporary respites from the evil perpetrated on the planet.

Then there are the tragedies closer to home like South Siders young and old being gunned down on the streets.

Relieving the grieving, only briefly and only a bit, Phillips Academy, located in Bronzeville, has advanced to this weekend's Class 4A state championship game.

Football playoffs are minor in the wide scope of current events, but Phillips' success is welcome news in an inner city in need of some. A group of teenagers trying to win the Public League's first football state title provides a glimmer of hope for the future in neighborhoods that must sometimes feel hopeless.

So, sports, here's another thank you for that.

The Blackhawks won a Stanley Cup this year, the Cubs made a run in the playoffs, and even the Bears have been entertaining now and then.

All of them were welcome distractions from war, disease and politics on the local, national and international landscapes.

Worrying about fantasy teams sure is better than fantasizing that the Illinois General Assembly will ever pass a budget.

So thank you, sports, for all the good you do.

Thanks also to all you newspaper readers on this Thanksgiving Day ... and every other day for that matter.

mimrem@dailyherald.com

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