Valerie Parnell, Seminole County Watch columnist

The recent attention and emotion given to the need, or lack thereof, for sports facilities in our area shows the power of sports in demanding our attention.

Sports fans are involved and passionate in their views as to whether the Orlando Magic need a new or refurbished arena in which to play competitively in the NBA.  Or whether an on-campus stadium at the University of Central Florida is a key ingredient to elevating that football program towards the upper ranks of the NCAA.

The positions the fans are taking on each venue seem somewhat reflective of theor views of the respective teams that are involved.  Disillusioned and dismayed Magic fans are relunctant to throw any good money after bad, seeming to be largely opposed to government funds being spent at this time to improve the team's home facility.

Fans of UCF football, on the other hand, remain hopeful and optimistic that the recent poor play is merely the result of a temporary transformative period the team is working, or more appropriately, playing through, as head coach George O'Leary reestablishes the promise and glory that was there but a few short seasons ago.

Sports has its place in our society, and certainly in my life.  There's nothing more beautiful than a curve ball that breaks sharply at the last minute and bites off a piece of home plate, leaving a stunned batter helplessly motionless at the plate.  So do not take this as a condemnation of sports, for it certainly is not so.

But it must be said that it would be nice if we could get as passionate and involved in the workings and activities of our government as we do in the fates and fortunes of our sports teams.

Imagine if we paid as much attention and detail to the latest moves of the County Commission as we do to the latest moves of the Orlando Magic regarding personnel on their roster.

Or if we directed as much debate to the latest motions put forth and seconded at city commission meetings as we to the motions deemed illegal in the backfield when UCF is facing a fourth-and-ten.

Virtually nothing happens in the world of sports without intense scrutinization, second-guessing and debate.  Sometimes for weeks after the actual event, debate and discussion continues, albeit for naught since it cannot undo the particular occurrence and its effect on the season for the team or player in question.

In the overall scheme of things, the debate and discussion is much like the sporting activity itself:  a source of pleasure and pain centered around the value it provides in terms of emotional connection to our teams or favorite players.

In terms of real impact upon our actual everyday lives, however, there is very little.  It all exists in a psychological and emotional realm that in reality is all tied to our desire to escape the mundane reality of our everyday lives by giving us something exciting to hold on to.

Yet each day, decisions are made by our government, at every level, that determine directly the quality level of those mundane, everyday lives that we seek to escape, if only for a few hours at a time.

New development is approved.  New taxes are enacted.  Services are cut or added.  All of it adds up to the existence of our lives in our local communities, and it all impacts us directly.

It determines how long we must endure traffic each day before we finally arrive home.  It determines whether recreational facilities are available where and when we would like to have them.  It determines how much of our incomes are truly ours after the  various levels of government take their shares.

Yet we pay much less attention to what our elected officials do than to our adopted teams and favorite players. 

This is not to endorse the concept that sports is the latest "opiate of the masses."  It is simply to seek a way that will make us as passionate about the actions of our government, and those who govern us, as we are about sports.

There must be some way it can be done, and I will not give up hope that we can.  Which is why I am going to give it much more thought, as soon as this afternoon's golf tournament is over.

Send an email to Valerie Parnell