Sports. You can’t write this stuff. The hits and misses, ups and down, gutters and strikes. The unapologetic brotherhood of picking a side with folks who would be strangers in every other way. Sports, they stick with you. Sometimes the heroes, the score, or the wins make an impact, but just as often, you remember the losses and the drops. There is one element, though, that makes the stories matter every time…the human element.
If you were watching TV on the evening of Monday, January 2, 2023, you know what I’m talking about.
That night, on TSN, the quarter finals of the World Junior Hockey Championships. A win-or-go-home game between Canada and Slovakia with clear storylines. Canada the heavy favourite, expected to win two more games after this one, so there was no way they could lose. Slovakia expected to get happily shellacked by the host Canadians, so there was no way they could win. If things had gone according to plan, it would been done early. But, live sports doesn’t care about your timeline, or what you think should happen, so this one heads to overtime. Meanwhile, on a channel not so far away…
…Monday Night Football. Cincinnati Bengals hosting the Buffalo Bills in a game that had been justifiably promoted as the best, most important, and most exciting game of the year. Two of the league’s dominant teams, each led by a young superstar quarterback facing off for a chance to gain home field advantage in the playoffs. The game absolutely did mean something to the players, the fans, the league. It was the kind of game where careers are made, myths are etched into lore and legends are built between the hashmarks. For players like Damar Hamlin, it was the biggest game on the biggest stage of his career. Only 24 years old, Hamlin had been Buffalo’s defensive back starter for most of the season after Pro Bowl veteran Micah Hyde went down to injury. He was seizing the opportunity of a lifetime.
On TSN, the juniors start overtime. Now, there is no more engaging content than overtime of an elimination game. It is pure sporting joy. The pins and needles transmit to couches across the country. In this case, with the expectations so high, the thrill of possibly losing far outclasses the potential joy of winning. It’s “just a game,” sure, but a Canadian loss means a nation’s pride dented and the dreams of 20 Canadian teenagers shattered. All the team needed was one goal, and all the millions of Canadians watching needed was relief. “Just a game,” sure. Needing a break from the tension, I switched back to the football game.
The Bengals were already up 7-3 and driving for more. At 8:56 pm ET, and with 5:58 left in the first quarter, Cincinnati receiver Tee Higgins catches a pass from Joe Burrow at midfield. Hamlin makes a fairly routine tackle, with Higgins’ shoulder impacting his chest. Nothing out of the ordinary about any of it. No penalties. Teams start to get ready for the next play. Then, after getting up, Hamlin quickly collapses back to the field. Obviously unconscious, and clearly in distress.
Players get injured in football every few plays of every game. Sometimes they even get up at first, and then go back down. In this case, the commentators didn’t even really notice it, but those nearest Hamlin, like Higgins, knew something was very wrong. Watching the players on the field around the fallen Hamlin, I could feel the urgency from my couch 876 kilometres away. Within seconds, the training staff was on the field, and almost immediately performing CPR. A few minutes later an ambulance backed onto the middle of the field. The images, especially without knowledge, are scary. Every single player—from both teams—congregated. Three-hundred-pound linemen, clearly with tears in their eyes, kneeling. Prayers. The broadcast went to commercial. Then back to the studio. The uncertainty added to the reality. Nobody knew what was going on, but everyone knew it was bad. Eight-thousand fans in the stands, and a TV audience in the neighbourhood of 20 million held their breath for a 24-year old who couldn’t catch his. The machinery of these athletes is always at risk: torn ligaments, even a brutal broken bone, or hyperextended elbow, all to be expected. What was happening to Hamlin wasn’t sports anymore. This was clearly a young man fighting for his life.
Stunned, not wanting to think about the worst, and needing a break from the emotion, I switched back to the hockey game. With the click of a button, I was on another planet. From silence to thunder. From stillness to unrelenting action. From seriousness, to beautiful chaos. In minutes, sports had transformed my headspace and my heart. It didn’t take long after that for the “Next Conor” to score a generational goal sending Canada to the semi-final. My heart soared. What a moment. To be that viscerally influenced by watching people play games snapped into focus the power of sports.
I checked Twitter to see if Damar Hamlin had died.
Sports, you can’t write this stuff.
Lionel Messi is probably the greatest soccer player that ever lived, and no one would argue that he’s not deserving of the accolades and paychecks that come with it. Records. Big moments. He’s well liked. He’s good with kids. He wins everything. Still, how is it possible that he makes more than $100 million a year kicking a soccer ball around? How is it possible for anyone to make that kind of money? Closer to home, how can the Leafs get people to pay 250 bucks for a sweater and $300 for a ticket to a Wednesday game in November? The answer lies not in economics, but in humanity.
That night, within about four minutes, I went from being a fan enjoying a cold Swing Bridge and a great night of football and hockey, to being a misty-eyed wreck over a player I knew nothing about. That’s why they get paid the big bucks. That’s why we watch. In a world where there is something tearing us apart at every tweet, it is good to be reminded that there are still things that can pull us all together.
Like sports.
You really can’t write this stuff.
PS: The Bills/Bengals game was postponed and then cancelled for that night, and eventually permanently cancelled a few days later by the league. Six days after Damar Hamlin’s heart stopped at least twice, the Bills took the field in Buffalo against the New England Patriots for the final game of the regular season. It didn’t take long for the story to find it’s fairytale ending. On the opening kickoff, Nyheim Hynes returned the ball for a touchdown. He’d do it again, later in the game, leading the Bills to a 35-23 victory.
Damar Hamlin remained in a Cincinnati Hospital for a few nights before being sent to a Buffalo Hospital. He was discharged on Wednesday, January 11, 2023.
by Mike Brock
