Yes, it is exciting — especially when the game is close. Yes, it is glamorous — who has not dreamed of being that famous athlete, gaining all the glory? Yes, it is communal — when else do you hug strangers with blue faces?

Do you remember this? (Young people, like my kids — get ready to run to YouTube.)

You hear the tense yet composed voice of Jim McKay. You see athletes running and hitting and diving. Most famously of all, you see a poor fellow flying through the air as he loses control at the end of the ski jump.

You know the phrase. Let’s say it all together: “The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.” It is the opening to ABC’s “Wide World of Sports.” Go ahead.
Hum the tune.

That particular program is long gone, but our love for sport remains. In this season, we are ready for some football. But no matter the season, we love this
stuff.

Why? Yes, it is fun — especially when the thrill of victory is ours. Yes, it is exciting — especially when the game is close. Yes, it is glamorous — who has
not dreamed of being that famous athlete, gaining all the glory? Yes, it is communal — when else do you hug strangers with blue faces?

But there is more here. I capture it with one word: certainty.

While sports are surely about all those other things, they also provide a quality to life that we rarely find elsewhere. With sports, we know the end of the matter.

We live in a frustrating and frightening world. Every day and in every way, we live with much that we do not know.

Think of the so-called “War on Terror.” How are we doing? Are we winning or losing in places like Iraq and Afghanistan? Are we safer than before 9/11?

Who knows? Think of our stinky economy. It is getting better? Is
it getting worse? How do we know? When will we know? How will we know when we know?

Think of this company or that organization. Are we moving forward? Are we falling backward? How do we evaluate? What should we anticipate?

Think of human relationships. Will my son ever get it? Will that friend ever get over it? Will that person I love, ever love in return? How do we measure this?

We wander through our days and wonder into the night. The uncertainty can become unbearable. The waiting can seem eternal. We are in the dark about
so much — and will we ever see light?

Then comes the game. We will watch. We may eat. We can scream. Then it will be done — the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat.

We may love it, or we may hate it. But we will know. Now and forever, the final score will be final. We will be certain. Sometimes I think we overdo our sports. But I think I have a sense of why we do. In a world of uncertainty, they provide a taste of certainty. In a world of murkiness, they give a hint of clarity.

In a world of indecisiveness, they supply a final result.

So we are ready for some football — to know what we will know, to know when we will know it, and simply to know.

Tom Stein is senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Richmond. He writes occasional commentaries for the Richmond, Indiana Pa;lidium-Item and it is used with his permission.