This world has certainly become difficult to navigate. We are all suffering from a pandemic, a harsh political climate and the general unease of not knowing what’s next. With all this in mind, it’s only natural that we seek those things that bring us together, like family and friends. With that said, life experience has shown me that there are additional things that can assist us in looking forward to a more promising future. And believe it or not, I think the return of sports is one of those things.

Yeah, sports.

As I write this piece, I instantly think back to 1987 when Doug Williams, a Black quarterback, won the Super Bowl for the Washington Redskins. It was a moment frozen in time for me as I watched people of all races and all economic classes hugging, screaming and parading in the streets of Washington, D.C. In those moments there was not a single second that any one person appeared different from the other. There was no divisiveness and no political pretense keeping Washingtonians apart from one another. On the contrary, those moments, basked in all things sports, were about togetherness. While those moments may have been short lived, they represent the axiom that when we are enriched by things that provide us with excitement, hope and motivation, we forget about our seemingly trivial differences.

So while we wait for sports to return amid this pandemic, let’s not forget that sports are so much more than wins and losses. They are so much more than a paycheck for thousands of people who are associated with it, from athletes to vendors and everything in between. Sports are simply bigger than that. They can provide us with not just a respite from our current troubles but a springboard to brighter days ahead. Perhaps this doesn’t apply to everyone in the way it applies to me, but all I can tell you is that I have seen sports bring communities together. Togetherness isn’t just something we need right now, it’s everything we need right now.