Not that long after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, many people across the country started to notice that the return of baseball and football was going to be a welcome distraction.

Really, when it comes down to it, that is all sport is. It’s a distraction, it’s a hobby and for people like me, it’s a passion.

Too often life becomes bogged down in the serious issues of the day, whether they are personal or societal.

Too often my brain is transfixed on such things as graduating, attempting to get a job, day 147,000 of the missing Natalee Holloway story, Hurricane Rita, Katrina and if Bill Maher had his way, Hurricane Ludacris (one of Maher’s “New Rules” is that more people would evacuate cities if hurricane names were more intimidating) and the relief attempts for these tragedies.

These are all heavy things to think about, and sometimes instead of thinking about the serious issues that surround my life it’s nice to think about something that doesn’t matter so much to the world.

With Chicago White Sox baseball being the distraction for me, sport may not matter much to the world, but it matters plenty in my life.

Some people in the world of academia look upon sport as trivial, but that triviality is the best part it sometimes.

I’ve been told before that it is the trash that we, as students, can choose not to listen too. However, sometimes it is the trash that is nice to listen to when it comes from the media and my television.

This distraction is good because it seems like everyday just brings more bad news to the forefront of all things news. Headlines glare at readers about murders, bad news overseas and bad news because of the seas. Twenty four-hour news broadcasts still preach to readers about the political divide in America, with the only effect being the enhancement of that divide. Radio programs declare nonsensical and preposterous viewpoints on items in the news just to try and have listeners tune in during their drive home from work instead of putting in a CD.

But, during October, there is no better release from this barrage of bad news than the baseball playoffs (and for a Chicago fan this is not usually the case).

Attending games at local taverns last week led to perhaps the most euphoric sense I’ve had in long time as the Chi-Sox wrapped up a Divisional Series sweep of the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

The last game ended with me and a friend jumping around just about as much as White Sox manger Ozzie Guillen when he received a full-bottle of ice-cold champagne down his back courtesy of pitcher Mark Buehrle.

My jumping celebration was followed up with frantic phone calls to every Sox fan I know, including my old-man and friends that I hadn’t talked with since returning to Eastern from summer break.

This is a simple concept: a fan’s baseball team finally winning can cause happiness despite the news from the world.

The sense that sport transcends the rest of somebody’s worries and can change a mindset is comforting to me.

And with the mindset that I usually have, that is a welcome thing anytime.