I remember the intro for the Wide World of Sports trumpeting Olympic theme music as the announcer dramatically intones, “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”
The international competition of the world’s soccer teams in the World Cup focused my thoughts on “The Man in the Arena.” Admittedly, I’m not a fan of what Internationals call fútbol, but I actually watched an entire soccer game – they call it a match – between the USA and Australia. I’ve come to appreciate the skill of the players handling the ball, and I now comprehend some of the strategy. Maybe I’m getting caught up in the “fútbol frenzy.”
What I don’t understand is the soccer clock, which seems virtually meaningless to everyone except the referee, who is the only person who has the time. Western culture and Americans are very time-oriented. Soccer fans, apparently, not so much. Einstein once said, “The only reason for time is so that everything will not happen all at once.” I recommend FIFA get rid of stadium digital clocks and install sundials for soccer games, uh… matches.
I’ve been thinking about how blessed we are for sports to distract us from politics and the war. This month, the NY Knicks won the NBA championship after a five-decade drought. Becky loves basketball; me, not so much. It may be sacrilege to admit that another season has gone by and I have still been unable to make it through an entire NBA basketball game.
Also in June, the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in an exciting hockey playoff tournament. I played hockey through my sophomore year at UT, but concluded that if I wanted to get into med school, I needed to spend more time in the library than hanging with hockey bros.
Ice hockey is fast and rough and the skill of catching a puck with your stick is comparable to playing “footsie” with a soccer ball. Personally, I find the fighting aspect of hockey ridiculous. If you want to take someone out, you don’t throw your glove down and punch at them and break your knuckles. You wait until they go into the corner, and then you smash them into the boards. By comparison, injuries on the soccer pitch (field) seem to produce more drama than serious injury.
And last week, the US Open golf tournament was played, and Wyndham Clark won not only our coveted national golf championship, but also redemption. He showed far more class than a lot of NY spectators, where several were thrown out for being obnoxious New Yorkers.
Having played baseball, tennis and hockey with some skill, I can tell you that hitting a golf ball well is another level of athleticism.
And after the World Cup is over, it’s on to a summer of baseball, more golf and then the fall with real American football.
The most interesting thing about the World Cup is that internationals attending the matches are discovering the real America instead of how our country has been portrayed by the America-hating, elitist and self-loathing liberal media. Since Elon Musk acquired Twitter, allowing free speech, internationals are now posting about American hospitality, abundance, uniqueness and charm. Apparently, they love America and our freedom. They’ve discovered Waffle House, Buc-ee’s, Walmart, Tex-Mex, Ranch dressing and beef jerky. After reading about the latter, I tried beef jerky, but found it dreadful.
Competition is the nature of sport and life. Equity aims to “level the playing field” to guarantee equal outcomes. It is different from equality under the rule of law, or the rules of competition, where the outcome is based on merit and performance. There can be no “sport” where equity is demanded. Nor can there be justice if favoritism is applied to one opponent because of race, creed, etc.
Why are so many liberals seemingly unhappy with our country, the rule of law guaranteed by the Constitution, or, for that matter, themselves? Only 31% of Democrats are proud to be an American, and only 18% approve of how democracy is working. If a person feels strongly about an issue, does it make their position more worthy than someone else’s reasoned opinion? Perhaps that is why Democrats don’t “feel” democracy is working for them. Perhaps my feelings for the American soccer team should justify more players on the pitch than their opponent.
I have recently come upon several thought-provoking articles regarding competition. The first was by C. S. Lewis, university professor, intellectual and the most celebrated Christian apologist of the 20th century. If you’re unfamiliar with Lewis’ work or have never seen the 1993 biographical movie “Shadowlands” starring Anthony Hopkins as Lewis, you must.
I’ve read a dozen books by Lewis, but chanced on an obscure writing of his describing Bulverism after a fictional character he created. The concept describes a rhetorical fallacy of always assuming your opponent is wrong and then attacking them personally (ad hominem attack) rather than debating their argument or position. This fallacy is unsportsmanlike, undemocratic and prevents rational debate. It has become emblematic of our current era of politics and discourse. The Piaget teaching moment is to recognize Bulverism and walk away.
I’m reading “Things That Matter,” a collection of essays by Charles Krauthammer. He is one of America’s greatest essayists and offers hope in a 2011 essay that political battling can rise above ideology and reign in “the most Hobbesian human instincts,” yet allow human ingenuity to flourish. What a contemporary concept regarding the development and management of AI.
And lastly is Teddy Roosevelt’s 1910 speech on the responsibilities of citizenship and an individual’s participation in democracy. The 26th president’s words are far superior to any I can write:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood…who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Thank you, President Trump, for entering the arena to save our country from destructive Democrats and the world from apocalyptic Iranian mullahs.
