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What Sports Fans Know About Friendship - The Atlantic

theatlantic.com · 1,303 words · saved by 1 readers

“How to Build a Life” is a weekly column by Arthur Brooks, tackling questions of meaning and happiness. Click here to listen to his podcast series on all things happiness, How to Build a Happy Life. Even though I’ve never lived in Chicago, I have a soft spot for the Cubs. My father grew up in the Windy City and loved the team his whole life. And I loved my dad. So, by the transitive property, I loved the Cubs too. Two decades after my father’s death, I am still a fan. Every time I watch the Cubs on television, I think of him and have a conversation with him in my head about the game. ENJOY A YEAR OF UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE ATLANTIC—INCLUDING EVERY STORY ON OUR SITE AND APP, SUBSCRIBER NEWSLETTERS, AND MORE. Perhaps baseball strikes you as too trivial a thing for father and son to connect over. Maybe we could have bonded more through our shared vocation (I am an academic, like he was—and like his father was too), or our feelings toward our relatives. Compared with family and career conc

E ven though I’ve never lived in Chicago, I have a soft spot for the Cubs. My father grew up in the Windy City and loved the team his whole life. And I loved my dad. So, by the transitive property , I loved the Cubs too. Two decades after my father’s death, I am still a fan. Every time I watch the Cubs on television, I think of him and have a conversation with him in my head about the game. Perhaps baseball strikes you as too trivial a thing for father and son to connect over. Maybe we could have bonded more through our shared vocation (I am an academic, like he was—and like his father was too

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