With the Country in Need, Sports Mattered More than Ever
Sports means something different to everyone. Everyone has their own favorite team, their own memories of “where I was when…”, and that’s what makes sports great. No one person will feel the same about any one sporting event. We relate sports to our own lives, in our own way. It’s that uniqueness of experiences that brings all sports fans together, breaks down all barriers; white or black or brown, male or female, rich or poor, young or old — we are just sports fans.
Each year, we at GoingFor2, give our writers a chance to share that experience, that emotion, that ‘one thing’ that stood out above all else in the past year. The sports story that mattered to them — big or small. The following is one such story. Enjoy…
In March, Millions of Americans lost their jobs and struggled to pay rent and several other bills. Our country was underprepared for a pandemic and even less prepared to take care of its citizen’s financial needs during a pandemic. Many of us were isolated at home through various mandates at state and local levels. Anxiety and stress rose across the nation as people rushed to stores to stock up on food and toilet paper. Covid-19 had not yet damaged the physical well-being of millions of Americans but its effects were immediately devastating to our financial well-being. The news cycled between bad news and worse news. There was seemingly no winning in 2020. When the heads of various sports leagues announced that they would be attempting to proceed amidst the uncertain conditions of the pandemic many met it with disapproval. When so many in our country needed help, was now really the time to worry about sports? Wasn’t there more important things to worry about?
It was easy to lose track of things in all the chaos that was 2020, but looking back to March there was a very real possibility of no professional sports. Perhaps we saw sports as a distraction or a past time, or maybe we just forgot all the great things that sports allow us to do. Sports are so much more than entertainment, they provide a sense of hope. They bring us together in a way that few things can and in 2020 having a reason to come together was what we needed most. We also needed several other essentials, medical supplies, food, shelter, and a sense of normalcy. Below are some of the people who stepped up in 2020 to help make a difference. These people went out and got us big wins this year!
Scott Fish organizes an annual charity fundraiser to get toys for kids in need over the holidays. Through Scott Fish’s organization and giving spirit, many were inspired yet again to donate. Fantasy Football Cares was able to raise over $50,000 this year to buy toys for kids in need through Toys for Tots. To learn more check out this thread from Scott himself.
In addition, Going for 2 had two of our own Charity events this year and we were able to raise $1,300 for Toys for Tots and another $1,000 dollars for the Second Genesis Foundation to help fight addiction. A big thank you to all who helped contribute to making this possible.
J.J. Watt just might be the greatest draft pick the Houston Texans have ever made and all for reasons that have little to do with his ability on the field. Watt is a large presence in Houston and makes sure to take care of his community on levels that few professional athletes have reached. In 2017 Watt raised and donated approximately $37,000,000 in relief funds for the city of Houston following Hurricane Harvey. This March when the Pandemic started to lay off millions around the country, Watt and his wife, Kealia, stepped up and donated $350,000 to the Houston food bank. That $350,000 would end up helping to provide meals for around a million people.
Bismack Biyombo C for the Charlotte Hornets is one of the most giving athletes in the world today. Biyombo has been doing everything he can to make sure the opportunities he didn’t have are provided to those in his native country of Congo. Every year Biyombo organizes a trip to return to Congo to help improve the lives of his countrymen. In 2020 as news of the corona-virus spread Biyombo donated over $1,000,000 of desperately needed medical supplies including facemasks and hazmat suits to his native country of Congo.
2020 delivered several blows, we lost loved ones and family members in a devastating fashion. Careers and jobs were taken away from millions, we struggled to pay bills and eat. It was easy to see the bad in 2020, but if you look closely there were thousands of people out there doing great things. Through it all we came together, we made new friendships, we zoomed (a lot). We drafted startup leagues just to be able to chat about Football like it was actually going to happen (it did!). We donated time and money and masks and sanitizer and anything else we could to help. When strangers on the internet saw someone say they were struggling they stopped and said how can we help and then they did. These are just a few examples of those with the platforms to help doing so in big ways. I encourage those reading this who are able to give their time or money to help do so. After all, if 2020 has taught us anything it’s that we are all connected and we all need a little help sometimes.
