The Reaction of Lewiston, ME to Their High School Winning the State Soccer Title a Couple of Weeks After a Mass Shooting is Everything That is Good About Sports

ANGELA WEISS. Getty Images.

Unfortunately by now, we've all exhausted our ways to adequately express our thoughts on mass killings. Whether they're by guns or bombs or vehicles being driven through crowds of people out enjoying their lives, there are only so many ways you can say how shocked, saddened, supportive and prayerful you are. And soon you not only run out of new adjectives to describe how you feel, but also how to demand "something" be done about them. 

One small saving grace in this though, is that humanity never runs out of ways to amaze you. We'll never how to figure out how to bring back innocent lives that were senselessly ended by some damaged person's malevolence insanity - or by Satan himself, if that's your belief - by we have a remarkable capacity to channel our grief into a positive. To find ways to come together in a shared sense of community in the worst of circumstances. It's quite probably our best trait. 

Consider this example. From Lewiston, Maine. A town in the wake of suffering the worst nightmare any municipality could. The one we all fear above any other. A massacre at the hands of a madman. And yet, they managed to get a small reprieve from their incomprehensible loss, thanks to some of the survivors:

Sun Journal - Tegra Mbele kick-started a Lewiston celebration.

Mbele’s second goal of the game, with about a minute left in the first overtime session, gave the Blue Devils a 3-2 victory over Deering in the Class A boys soccer state championship Saturday at Messalonskee High School. …

This championship comes 17 days after a mass shooting in Lewiston that killed 18 people and wounded 13 others.

“We have been saying the past few weeks, ‘Do it for the city,'” Lewiston goalie Payson Goyette said. “It feels great to win for the city and bring some good to the city.” …

Lewiston coach Dan Gish said he couldn’t believe the scene after the goal.

“Oh, my God, that was insane,” Gish said. “It was awesome; it was euphoric.”

To state that this win isn't going to bring any of the victims back is not only trite and stating the painfully obvious, it's missing the point entirely. Small comforts are still comforts. If you've ever suffered the loss of a loved one, you can relate to how much you cling to any sign that part of them is still with you. Some small synchronicity the universe offers you as a reminder there are forces in this existence beyond our understanding. But that doesn't make them any less real. I can imagine that the families who lost someone in the mass homicide were pleased by this win, and the outpouring of emotion that it brought from that crowd. That alone is enough.

By the same token, this is a reminder of what sports is at its very best. Something that unites people. Even total strangers from different backgrounds who otherwise would have nothing in common, beyond the flight of ball and where it comes to rest. We all know people who don't care for sports in any capacity. We all know that look of disdain where you can tell they're judging why any grown adult would care about the outcome of some sportsball game played by people they've never met. And I get how that makes sense by any standard of logic. 

But then you see a moment like this and I truly feel pity for anyone too careful and too serious to care about games. I can't fathom what they have among their interests that can compare. No book, hobby, theater production, work of art or movie could ever hope to elicit this kind of a reaction from a crowd. All of whom seemed to recognize the moment that ball found the back of the net that it was about something much deeper and meaningful than any trophy will ever be able to symbolize. 

I think I speak for everyone at Barstool when I say we love the ridiculous, nonsensical, hilarious parts of the games we cover most of all. Scandals. Conflicts. Fans acting like morons. Entitled athletes and coaches being jackasses. It's all part of life's rich pageant. But there are those transcendent moments that are rewarding on a deeper level. Spiritual. Even metaphysical. The 2013 Red Sox placing the World Series trophy at the Marathon finish line. Steve Gleason's blocked punt to win the first game back in the Superdome after Katrina, and the 2009 Saints Super Bowl win. Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods' emotional championships so soon after losing their fathers. Brett Favre throwing for 399 yards and 4 TDs in prime time right after losing his. Mike Piazza's home run to win the first game in New York after 9/11. Lou Gehrig's farewell address. Just to name a few. 

Sports can bring out the very best in the human race. It's OK to forget that every once in a while as we focus on gleaming the comedy out of it. As long as we reminder ourselves every so often why they matter so much too. 

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Godspeed, Lewiston. Stay strong.  Now let's get back to the usual nonsense.