But
seriously, I dare you to ask yourself, when was the last time it was about the game? Every College Bowl Game is
sponsored by someone; and the original names are much less prevalent than those
of the corporate sponsors. Hell, even Disneyland has cornered the market on the
congratulatory speech and nowadays, the now-classic “I’m going to Disneyland” line seems relatively harmless next to the
less endearing side of human nature Professional Sports now exposes, with much
help from the social networking universe.
If you’re
reading this blog, chances are you found it through Facebook and if you have
Facebook, it is safe to say you have seen literally thousands of examples of
how we (we meaning SOME) have cast the game itself aside in favor of unearned
bragging rights; a sociological phenomenon I have termed “the Illusion of
Accomplishment”. Surely in the past week you have seen posts regarding the NFL
and throughout the past year, a large chunk of the words coming across your
newsfeed have had to do with Major League Baseball and any of the other major
sports. How many of those posts have spoken not of appreciation of one’s chosen
team; but of derision towards an opposing
team?
I relish a
good conversation on the greats of the games; The Johnny Unitas’ of the world;
the Willie Mays’, the Larry Birds and the Wayne Gretzkys’; good talk about legendary
players. Sadly, such conversations are rare a find as a Bud Selig fan at Petco
Park. Bragging about something one had nothing to do with is the rule nowadays
and it makes me wonder; are people that insecure in their own abilities they
feel the need to use the doings of other to feel good about themselves?
In this
life of mine, I have learned that balance is key to just about every endeavor.
One example is not only knowing but living the balance between honest reflection
and living in the past. Reflection aides in learning from the past; living in the
past means one has learned nothing. In a perfect illustration of imbalance, look at Raider fans (and yes,
there is no shortage of examples of serious imbalance among Raider fans); they’ve
lost ten or more games in thirteen of the last fifteen seasons. Yet whenever
question about the current state of their team, a fan will ask “How many rings
you got?”
Living in
the past, while living in absolute denial of the present situation. It’s easy
to use the Raiders as an example, in fact almost too easy. Something like the saying
involving fish in a barrel. But if you look at the average fan of any team,
much of the same mentality is there; one person claiming superiority over
another merely because a differing choice in favorite teams.
Even the
accomplishments of the players themselves have taken a back seat to
off-the-field behavior and in some cases, the athletic skills of players can’t
even find room in the car among all the celebrity gossip and media-fueled drivel.
Take Richard Sherman; great player and by most accounts, a solid man in his
community. Yet most conversations about him start and end with his brash,
loudmouth ways; while only occasional mention is made of his athletic prowess.
Some guys out there make even Dennis Rodman look relatively tame by today’s
(lack of) standards, and they don’t even have to wear feather boas and sleep
with Madonna to do it.
I find it
humorous and saddening at the same time, how many people will eat that kind of
thing up, while the rest spend even more time complaining how ridiculous it all
is. I know it may sound hypocritical, seeing as how I’m taking the time to
write about it, yet I write about it from an outsiders view; rather than hem
and haw over what’s going on in the world of sports fandom these days I look at
it in the larger context of how it reflects who we are as a society and when I
look at it that way, I must say I am not impressed.
Just over
nine years ago, my Mom passed away during what was looking to be a championship
season for the Chargers. Alas, our Chargers stunk it up, at home against New
England in a bitter playoff elimination. After the game ended, guys were
throwing their hats on the ground, yelling at their wives and tossing their
jerseys in the trash can. I was irritated at first, of course I wanted to see LT
and Phillip Rivers hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy. But the irritation lasted
only a few minutes, as I was all too aware of what a TRUE LOSS was. Momentarily
I wished I was small-minded enough to think a football game was the end of the
world. I look back on that moment as the moment I started losing interest in
professional sports as a whole, as to get involved was to invariably have to
deal with those with the “Illusion” way of thinking.
Lately, I
have been thinking much of the Chargers only Super Bowl appearance, a day my
brother and I stationed shotguns by the door so we could fire a shot in the air
every time they scored. (Something we did for every televised Charger game when
we live in New Mexico.) For us, it was about the game yet being it was our first,
you can bet there was also a big party. Yet we manages it well, those who were
there to party had no seating rights; those who were there for the game got preferred
seating.
I’m
working today and a big part of me is glad I am. Most Super Bowl parties these
days are filled with people who know nothing about the game and you can bet tomorrow
more than one person at every party will be rooting for Seattle simply because
someone else is rooting for New England, and vice versa. Observe those around
you, you will be amused; at least until you realize some of the people rooting
hardest don’t know Tom Brady from Tom Cruise. There’s nothing more irritating
than hearing someone talk nonstop about something they know nothing about.
Yet for those who enjoy the game as much as the party, I salute you. You’re in
it for all the right reasons.
I tip my
SD hat to those of you who watch the game for the game; who follow their team for the team, and who respect the history and traditions. And for those who
would claim superiority over another person, even over a professional athlete
simply because the team you like is better than the team they root for or play
on, I give you the old Chub Feeney salute…
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