You may have noticed that this blog takes a particular liking to “using sports for good"—the idea that sports can transcend athletic competition and have a lasting impact on a large body of people.
For instance, after World War II, Japan rallied around professional baseball, as it “provided welcome distraction while serving as a symbol of the cooperation, hard work, and self-sacrifice needed to rebuild the devastated land,” according to the Associated Press.
Now, as the AP reports, Japan has gone back to baseball as a source of national pride after the devastating earthquake and tsunami from earlier this month.
Now the nation is turning elsewhere for a glimmer of hope: fresh-faced adolescents who play their hearts out on the baseball field with a seriousness and integrity sometimes missing from their pro heroes.
Be sure to click through and read the whole story. It’s a refreshing reminder of the healing power of sports.