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Bill Mathews's avatar

I live and die with OSU sports. I attended the final game of the OSU/Auburn series. I was sitting near a couple from Auburn and offered, "Welcome to Oregon" and we chatted about the rain. I would bet an awful lot of my money that we don't share the same political viewpoint. Who cares? They were visitors to my beloved home state and I wanted them to feel welcomed. We were at a GAME. Auburn's very big, very talented 1st baseman injured his leg rounding 2nd base at one point. I thought, oh no, here come the cat calls directed at a very big kid. Silence and then a very genuine round of applause as he resumed his place on 3rd base. You could see that over the 3 games, the 2 teams had developed great respect for one another. It was incredibly refreshing to see. The game was an escape. I left very disappointed with the outcome. I didn't leave angry.

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Josiah Hart's avatar

Hopefully The Athletics' new policy is a sign of the tide turning. Americans are divided on so many issues, but sports have long been the rare exception where a whole region will come together and unite and route for the same outcome without regard for race, sexuality, religion, political ideology, etc. Sporting events are a rare opportunity for us to disconnect for a few hours from the strain and worry of the outside world. The last five minutes of a close Blazer game no one cares about what is happening on Twitter, or checking the CNN or FoxNews headlines; instead 20,000 people from all walks of life are united and pulling for one outcome. When Lillard hits that game winning three sending the crowd into pandemonium and you start high-fiving everyone you don't care if they have blue hair or if they're shirt says "don't tread on me." In a world where it seems like everything is twisted and sensationalized in order to get us angry and divided, sports is an escape. An escape worth fighting for.

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