In Rick Reilly’s ESPN article “Why I Love My Job”(2009), Reilly claims that sports are much bigger than what meets the eye. Developing his opinions by giving different descriptions of sports at the beginning of every paragraph, Reilly correlates sports and human life by using personification, which someone who knows nothing about sports can identify and visualize. He attempts to convey opinions for the reader to consider by giving real life examples of sports having more prevalence and meaning in our culture than previously thought. Reilly does this in order to explain why sports mean so much to him as a person, and how they have value in our lives that the price of a ticket or jersey could never amount to.
Reilly uses several short stories and experiences involving professional and amateur sports to support his argument. In this piece, he tries to show that sports are more than just a game. He includes stories that demonstrate the emotions and meaning sports can have for people. For instance, Reilly says, “I knew a Boston dad and son who hadn’t spoken in five years… But when the Red Sox won it all in 2004, the son came home” (par. 4) Besides the emotional bonds that sports helps us form, Reilly argues that sports can inspire us to act in altruistic ways.
