In case you have not heard because you live under a rock without wifi, there is a solar eclipse today. If you are unfamiliar with what that is, then you should have paid attention in your seventh grade physical science class. But, all it really is is the moon crossing the path of the sun so it gets dark during the day. For reference, it also gets dark every night unless you are in Northern Sweden in mid-July.
If you have been following the lead-up to this once-in-a-generation galactic event, you will know that people are fucking amped about it. There is a seventy-mile-wide stretch across the middle of the country that has a 100% solar eclipse, from Oregon to South Carolina. Along that stretch, hotels have been sold out for months, which is humorous considering the most exciting city outside of Portland and Nashville is somewhere in the middle of Nebraska.
The last solar eclipse was in 1979, which is also the year Magic’s Spartans defeated Bird’s Sycamores. At the closing of the ABC news report, anchor Frank Reynolds (no, not that Frank Reynolds) announced the next eclipse would be August 21, 2017.
ABC News about 2017 after the solar eclipse eclipse in 1979: "May the shadow of the moon fall on a world at peace" pic.twitter.com/nXFE9PIhiV
— BNO News (@BNONews) August 21, 2017
When I saw this clip for the first time, I thought of a couple things. First was how inconsequential our role is in the universe and the fact that the universe moves exactly how it was initially intended no matter what we do on Earth.
Also, how sports are beautiful because they are literally the exact opposite of that.
Think of the predictability and inevitability of that clip. Astronomers and news anchors alike knew almost 40 years in advance that the moon would cross the sun today. The closest we have ever gotten to that level of prediction in sports is when Back to the Future Part II had the Cubs winning the 2015 World Series. As contrast, always remember the Kick Six.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8oH8QcYIm8
Imagine a world where sports were as ordinary and predictable as everything else in the universe. It would leave us in a world with no upsets, no buzzer beaters, no jaw-dropping plays. It would create a world where every five-star recruit goes to a powerhouse program. Every championship would be won by the preseason number one and the Final Four would just be the one seeds.
Basically what I am trying to say is that sports are the most beautiful thing we have. They give us something to make our heart race, something to rally behind, something to look forward to, but not expect. There are no pictures of what will occur on September 2 when Florida State plays Alabama. Predictions are only that.
So of course an eclipse is an anomaly of nature. Of course it’s something we don’t see often. But sports gives us something we don’t see often every single day. Like a kick six, or a one-two step, or the best catch you will ever see from a kid in Pennsylvania.