Aside from life-or-death issues and matters of war or peace, what is more emotion-stirring among many Americans than sports?
But alas, sports have their "casualties," too.
The latest is the removal of University of Tennessee head men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl, who over several seasons has sometimes been highly successful.
For years, you could see him at courtside, mouth open, extremities pumping, seeming to get almost as much exercise as the players.
But in sports, there are rules, of course, and some of those rules deal with subjects such as the appropriate ways to recruit talented players, and how those players may be contacted. It is in that area that Pearl and some of his staff came under fire, leading to their dismissal.
Isn't college, after all, supposed to be about classes and learning? Aren't - or weren't - sports supposed to be mainly just fun games, healthful exercise and wholesome competition?
Well, yes. But all too often, the importance of winning has gotten out of control.
College sports - not just the big professional ones - involve untold millions of dollars in salaries, gate receipts, etc., plus prestige for winning programs.
Some coaches win and some lose, and they apparently have varied ideas of how to handle the rules - off the court or field as well as on.
Sports, college spirit, fan enthusiasm and the rest are great. But "how you play the game" also matters a great deal - particularly when impressionable young people are watching.
These are not issues only for UT. They are spread throughout the sports world.
But in this instance, we are painfully witnessing the playing out of those issues with the dismissal of Coach Pearl and his staff.