Sports & The Royal Family
On the morning of April 29th, 2011, I awoke at 5 a.m., a bundle of nerves with my game day face on. Drinks were poured, frantic texts sent, and my lucky hat dusted off — after years and years of waiting, and the moment was finally here!
It was the game of the century.
The King had arrived.
It was time for the Royal Wedding.
(Gotcha!)
It’s true. I’m an avid, enthusiastic, follower of sports and the Royal Family. And I love both for the same reason.
At their best, they reward us with once-in-a-lifetime moments; at their worst, they mirror our shameful flaws and prejudices. They can be silly and superfluous, but both carry the heavy burden of history and the rare opportunity to rewrite it.
I’m not sure if either are good or bad for us, but I do know that they both matter. Whether you’re a fan or not.
For sports fans rolling their eyes, I’ve been listening to grown adults talk about high school football players for months, years…decades! Millions and millions of dollars are spent on the broadcasting of sports — a billion-dollar industry, about games rules by self-created rules. We watch the rich get richer, perpetuate cycles of pure nonsense, and reward talent of no real consequence. Sound familiar?
The similarities between my Royal fandom and sports fandom became most glaringly apparent when I heard about Meghan and Harry’s decision to leave their senior royal status earlier this year. I was transported straight back to July 2010, a simpler time filled with Four Lokos and unpaid internships. As a native Clevelander, when LeBron left in 2010, I said (maybe yelled? maybe cried?) over and over….and over and over again, “It’s not WHAT he did — it’s HOW he did it!”
(Almost a decade later, I am proud to say I’m 99.9% worked through these issues.)
Both ‘decisions’ were progressive, rational, and needed, but executed poorly, even with massive amounts of money and enormous stakes on the line.
You may be thinking to yourself, “But why do you care so much?? And why am I reading this random Medium post??” I wish I had simple answers to these questions, but I don’t. To be honest, I wish I didn’t care as much as I do. But, here I am, and guess what, here you are, too. We’re all human, we all care a little too much, and we are all in need of a distraction.
Bill Simmons wrote after his team lost the Super Bowl, “I have never been able to answer the question, ‘Why does this matter to me so much?’ That’s just the way it’s always been. Ever since I can remember.”
LeBron’s decision felt personal to me, and the city of Cleveland, because we truly thought he was one of us. He UNDERSTOOD how badly we needed a championship! What it stood for and how it was about so much more than basketball. He had NE Ohio in his bones. My story was intertwined with his story.
When we watched Meghan and Harry’s wedding, their story reflected our different stories, too — across the country and globe. People felt they were part of the celebration. They had earned it. British citizens had quite literally paid for it.
I felt like I was on LeBron’s team. People felt like they were invited to Meghan and Harry’s party. And then they dumped us.
The stories are the same. People fall in love, they fight, celebrate, grow up. Sometimes it’s tragic; but sometimes, if we’re lucky, as Barbara Walters said during the 2011 Royal Wedding, it’s “delightful history.” No matter what, it’s always entertaining. The storylines never tire. Humans are complicated and the meaning of home changes, no matter your jump shot or bloodline.
Perhaps Olivia Colman, as Queen Elizabeth II in the Netflix series The Crown, summed it up best. The Queen is asked to participate in a documentary, as her aide tells her, “to show everyone that behind palace gates, we are perfectly normal people.” She responds:
“Aren’t we? We wake up in the morning, go to bed at night. We work, get tired, get colds. We have uncles that embarrass us, Christmases to endure. We’re perfectly normal.”
They filmed that documentary in 1969, and it was a disaster. Some things are better left to the imagination. Although we want to feel like we’re on the team, or part of the family…we aren’t. And we probably shouldn’t be. It’s much easier to be a spectator, deciding when we want our chosen ones to be “just like us” or superhuman. The Crown touches on this when the Queen asks what people want in the see in the documentary, if not her ordinary day-to-day life.
“But people don’t consider you to be, and if I may say, and this is where it gets a little complicated, they don’t want you to be normal.”
“Well, what do they want? Tell me. It’s all any of us want to know.”
“Well, the truth is, we don’t know what we want. Other than we want you to be ideal.”
“An ideal. No human being is ideal.”
It’s not our fault that we can’t get enough of Meghan and Harry’s rollercoaster ride. People love a champion, an underdog, and a comeback story. They’ve got all three.
Think what you may, and I certainly have my own thoughts about Meghan and Harry’s public exit strategy, but sports have taught me to try to see the best in people, take the time understand the complexities, and call out blatant inequalities.
And if Meghan and Harry should ever decide they want back into the royal family, they can turn to sports as a comfort.
Cleveland and LeBron eventually made up, so there’s always hope.
And for the record — I’m rooting for them all. Go team?
