This essay won in the “Sports Commentary” category of the 2024 Los Angeles Press Club Awards. Read more about this here.
Gary Chapman’s “The Five Love Languages” famously breaks down how humans demonstrate their commitments: with words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, acts of service and physical touch.
When my big brother David Porras died suddenly this summer, I discovered a sixth category: sports. The Los Angeles Dodgers, in particular, emerged as a unique love language for my grieving family and David’s friends.
David, as far as I know, did not ponder love languages. Yet he was fluent in the language of camaraderie, especially when the topic shifted to sports. After all, even strangers can talk about the Dodgers together. Who won, who lost and what catch/run/pitch made hearts stop — these are safer topics for conversation than politics or personal feelings. But sports talk can also transcend small talk and become a shared field of memories, a tie that binds.
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