By DAN GARTLAND

EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR

Above, you see my name with the title “executive sports editor.” I like sports; that should be obvious. But every so often I have a deep existential crisis: My hands sweat, and my asthma acts up. Why do I care about sports? I ask. Why do sports matter?

I had several of these moments last week.

Between the marathon and the Red Sox matinee, Patriots Day is a great sports day in Boston. The Bruins were supposed to play the Ottawa Senators that night at 7:30 p.m., but what happened at 2:50 p.m. made that all seem trivial. That game was postponed, and the Celtics’ game against the Atlanta Hawks scheduled for the following day was cancelled.

That’s when my hands started to sweat. Basketball and hockey seemed so painfully inconsequential. These are things to which I devote entirely too much of my time, and suddenly it all appeared insignificant. Three people were dead, and many more injured. This was no time for games.

At the time, yes, sports seemed unimportant, but I knew how important sports would soon become in Boston.

Boston is a sports town. It’s probably the best sports town in America. As someone who roots for all New York teams, I’m not afraid to say that. I mean, one of the SWAT vehicles used in the manhunt for the second bombing suspect had a Bruins sticker pasted on the side-view mirror.

Last Wednesday, before the two suspects had even been identified, the Bruins played the first sporting event in Boston since the attack.

Boston icon Rene Rancourt was on hand to sing the national anthem, but after “the dawn’s early light,” he dropped the mic and let the sold-out crowd of 17,565 take over. If you watch the video, though, you can see not everyone was singing — many were crying.

They did the same thing that Saturday, the day after the second suspect was captured; and they did it at the Red Sox game that afternoon as well.

It was through sports that many people across the country decided to show their support for Boston. Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle, a Boston native, wrote “pray for Boston” on his skates for his game on the day of the bombing. On Saturday, he wore a special jersey during warm-ups with the name of Martin Richard, one of the victims.

Ballparks and arenas around the country showed their support by playing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” which the Red Sox play in the middle of the eighth inning of every game. Over the years, the song has become synonymous with Boston, so much so that my former co-editor Erik Pedersen would lament the Fordham band’s decision to play it at football and basketball games, saying, “It’s a Boston thing.” Even the Yankees played the song. That’s right — the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry was put on hold, so you know the country was really going through some tough stuff.

But, that’s not even the best “Sweet Caroline” story from the week. No, that happened on Saturday. Neil Diamond himself showed up at Fenway a half hour before game time and asked, “Can I sing today?” I guess the short notice made it hard to find an instrumental version of the song, so Diamond sang along to his own recorded voice. He was terribly out of sync, but no one cared.

After Diamond finished, the Red Sox came to bat, and Daniel Nava hit a three-run homer to put them up 4-2. “Boston, this is for you,” the play-by-play man said.

The Yankee fan in me hated myself a little bit for taking joy in a Red Sox win, but I felt good about being a sports fan.