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Children of hippies (or grown-up hippies themselves) will recall Marlo Thomas's 1974 album Free To Be You and Me, which memorably included football great Rosey Grier singing "It's Alright to Cry." Even if you didn't know who this big tough-looking guy was, you knew he was a big tough-looking guy singing, "I know some big boys who cry, too," and you knew there was something awesome about that. And if you are or live with a Boston Celtics fan or a Los Angeles Kings fan, you've probably had this song going through your head for last few weeks. For it is one of the great ironies of sports that its fans (and athletes themselves), who spend so much time valuing the super-macho and ultra-physical, are often also, let's face it, crybabies.

Bill Simmons, possibly the most thoughtful sports fan there is, wrote an essay on crying about sports for the site Grantland called "The Consequences of Caring." He writes about the first time his daughter, a Kings fan, cried over sports: "I remained sympathetic while being secretly delighted, like she had passed some sort of 'Fledgling Sports Fan' hurdle or something." This is an essay about caring really an extra lot about sports. (Simmons writes, "Of the 75 greatest moments of my life, sports were involved in at least 20 of them") But it's also an essay about a father and a daughter, and about really caring about something, and about caring about what the people you care for care about. (Got that?)

Simmons wants to share his love of sports with his daughter because it's such a big part of his life. He doesn't even care if she latches onto a rival team, because after all, "Sports is a metaphor for life. Everything is black and white on the surface. You win, you lose, you laugh, you cry, you cheer, you boo, and most of all, you care." He just wants her to care, like he does. And when he realizes that she cares deeply enough to cry, he knows that on this level they understand each other.

Whether you and your father root for the same team or for mortal rivals, how nice, how lucky, if you can share an interest, whether it's sports or politics or rococo frescos. Everyone should have something they care about enough to cry over. And having someone who understands that beloved something can be one of the greatest gifts there is.

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