First things first...to all who may read my posts, I hope you had the best of holidays, a very Happy New Year, and best wishes for 2007...

What is it about sports that can bring together complete strangers? I recently had the good fortune of attending an away game for my favorite sports team (Go Seahawks!) and found there to be an uncanny amount of good will between my companion and I and the other scattered fans of my team in attendance at the game. Was it the pursuit of a common goal in victory or does it run deeper than that? I find the camaraderie among fans of a common sports team to be similar to that among fellow citizens of a common country. I've been on several cruises in my day and I've seen how fellow countrymen unite in friendship with only their nationalities in common. The same can be said for sports fans. Why else would complete strangers be able to unite, take pictures together, and otherwise act like they'd known each other for years? Certainly, a little basic good nature helps. Beyond that, it is an issue of loyalty. Loyalty to a common cause, heritage, or to a sports team can create powerful emotions that can unite even the most different of people. So America, I know we have a national heritage in common but consider, even for just a moment, the additional value and the uniting effect of allegiance to a cause or to a sports team. There are so many distractions in today's day and age that remove us from the power of positive interpersonal interactions and most of us would benefit from having more in common with our fellow human beings. Being American is a very broad identifier so I encourage you to try sports or some other means of uniting with other people. Those of us who embrace a cause or a sports team know what I am talking about and trust me when I say it's a lot of fun. Just an urban country boy's two cents worth and until next time...

PS   For those readers who especially enjoy my blog posts that contain a certain rustic or even, shall we say, redneck point of view, stay tuned and bookmark the site www.cosmoredneck.com. It is one that I am working on currently and that will contain much more on that theme. I'm looking forward to its completion and I know that you will enjoy it.