The Essential Force of Music in Sports: "Lose Yourself"

Upon completion of the "Sports and Spirituality Personal Inventory," I have students create prompts of their own, for their classmates/ by their classmates. They came up with some good ones, such as, What is your:

• Favorite jersey number
• Least favorite WCAL team (our sports league)
• Pregame pump-up song
• Sport you wish you played but don't

We played with these ideas until our guest speaker—my friend and classmate, Alex Montoya arrived. Ever observant, ever playful, Alex looked at the students' creation on the board and decided to answer one.

"For the pregame pump-up song, I have two. The first is "Lose Yourself" by Eminem. Even though that song came out in 2003, I think the words, the beat, its entire effect captures what you are supposed to do in the game. Sports is an invitation to lose yourself in something." I looked at this group of 27 young adults and I could tell, every single one of them knew exactly what he was talking about.

And the second is one called "Here Come the Irish. I don't suppose you have heard it but it's almost haunting in its beauty. It's hard to hear this song when you are inside Notre Dame Stadium and not get chills."

I was reminded of Alex's words during Senior Night, the final home game of the varsity boys' basketball team when "Lose Yourself" was played during a timeout. Though Alex's insight invited me to think of the song in a new way, the ballad has never needed much explanation. Its power speaks for itself. Prior to that timeout, the athletes on the floor were lost in the contest they were creating. Their coach was calling their plays, their bodies and minds were preparing to execute. 

You better lose yourself in the music, the moment

You own it, you better never let it go

You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow  

This opportunity comes once in a lifetime

This song is instantly recognizable. The resounding beats of Eminem's academy award winner commenced. The volume was up, filling the airwaves. It became impossible not to listen. I averted my gaze from the team to their fans—the student section. In that moment I  saw a freedom in my students, one that is too seldom on display. They couldn't help but move with this timeless hip hop, lyrical masterpiece. Many knew the words and dropped their conversations to join in singing. And in that moment, I know the essential force of music had taken command. 

In the article "Good Sports" Rabbi Martin Siegel states that Sports is our shared religion, He supports his claim by stating, If a millennium from now someone were to examine the artifacts of our civilization, he or she would discover that in many places sports facilities were the largest and most prominent buildings. This discovery might lead to the conclusion that sports were one of the most powerful influences in our culture. And that conclusion would be correct.

Rather than opining for another way or other priorities, Siegel questions: What power does sport manifest that has made it the “religion” of many contemporary people? Perhaps you too have wondered what makes sports so compelling? Or, to draw from the root of the word "religion"—religio which means "binding,"—How or why are we bound to sports? Siegel answers these questions by examining five essential forces—"power that connects all human beings to their Creator and that express the essence of that Creator in daily life." One such force is music. He writes

Another way that people experience the energy of the Creator is through music, which is the energy of the Creator as expressed in sound. The most material reaction to music is dance. Moving the physical body to music joins the breath of the Creator as expressed in music to the power of the human body to move. There is the obvious music that we hear, but there is also the deeper level expressed in the rhythm of creation that cannot be heard. In sport the athletes are “dancing” (moving in a ritualized fashion) to this hidden music of creation. There is a powerful essential rhythm to the games and competitions in which all participants are dancing. 

Through viewing the competitions, the fans participate in this essential dance by feeling its hidden music. This “rhythm” at the heart of the game allows fans to experience the deeper rhythm of the Creator as expressed through the game. The power of this rhythm joins the players and the fans into a dance, through which they are connected and together experience the energy of the Creator. This energy can feel like ecstasy when players and fans experience the highest form of this dance in an artful play or victory.

Clearly, Eminem had an awareness—a sense of this essential force. The urgency by which the narrative is delivered, its aggressive beats and themes, the uncompromising drive speak timelessly to humanity....to one who is seeking...who is engaged in a path toward something more. Sports manifest that drive, that quest and that place where we can and want to lose ourselves, if for but 4 minutes (the song) or 32 (the game). 

The Creator knew what He was doing when he created this force....and so did the creator of this song. Give it a listen...before, during or after your next contest.

Photo Credits
LeBron James Playlist
Eminem