Quinton Peck "On Sports"

By +Quinton Peck

Each year, on the first Sunday in February, tens of millions of people either tune in to or, if you’re lucky, attend in person, what some have called “America’s de facto holiday” and “the greatest sporting event in American history:” The Superbowl. All over the nation, parties are held; bars and public places are filled beyond capacity with raving fans, and everywhere the excitement is comparable to that of a child on Christmas morning. During the course of the over four hour game, the nation pauses to see which team will be crowned champion. For weeks leading up to this big event, fans and national media alike make predictions, analyze teams and players, and participate in heated debates over a single game. This is the Christmas morning of Football. One may be led to think that this is an annual occurrence. But it’s not just one game, or even one sport. In America this sports fever is constant. Just as one major sport is ending, another is ready to begin. But sports fanaticism is not inherent to just the United States. While it is quite visible in America, sports fanaticism and its effects can be seen all over the world. Perhaps the most vivid international example is the World Cup. In European and South American countries especially, it is not uncommon to see shops closed and streets vacant during a tournament game. Fans will don their team colors, sometimes going so far as to paint their face, even when watching the game at home. At the stadium, security is doubled and sometimes even tripled so as to prevent the unruly fans from causing any serious damage. During a heated match, it is common for decibel levels in the stadium to reach dangerous heights, and the noise can be heard for miles around. While the two events I have mentioned are both tournaments: the Superbowl for professional Football in America, and the World Cup for professional Soccer internationally, I do not wish the reader to think that this kind of athletic fervor only occurs during a tournament or championship game. For many, this is a weekly and sometimes even semi-weekly ritual. But this is not a modern occurrence. Since the beginning of recorded history, there have always been sporting events of a sort. As far back as approximately 17,300 years ago, there are cave drawings depicting swimmers and wrestling matches. By 2000 BC, athletic events such as weightlifting, rowing, long jump and other similar events were popular and well regulated in Egypt. In ancient eastern civilizations, martial arts date back to 1000 BC. But it was on the island of Greece that sporting events really formed a culture of their own. The first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC and only included one footrace. But by 393 AD, when the last ancient Olympiad was held, this iconic sporting event had grown to include approximately 15 different events, there was a stadium dedicated to the purpose of sporting events, and there was even a god of athletes and athletics. Later, during the middle ages, tournaments were frequently held for the knights to exhibit their combat skills, with the prize for the victor sometimes being as great as a royal marriage. It was not until the mid-1600’s that there began to be organized team sports. Originally, team sports were only for the aristocracies. But as Alexis de Tocueville says in his book, Democracy in America, the equalization of conditions which comes as democracy advances tends to give the common man more leisure time. It is then only logical to assume that as public leisure time grows, so do sports. The progress of equality has changed the face of sports and their purpose. Originally, athletes participated in sporting events as a sort of “off-duty” military training. Ancient sports were designed to train a better soldier. In the Olympiad of old, one of the major events was a running race where participants had to run in a full suit of armor. It was not until the industrial revolution that the common man even considered actively participating in different sporting events to fill his leisure time. As with many other activities, athletics have created a mindset all their own. American sports culture has bred two different and contradictory paradigms, depending on what level the sport is being played at. The first paradigm is what I like to call “the Pee-Wee league” or recreation mentality. This is the mentality which says that “everyone should play, everyone should win.” One of the many examples of how this paradigm affects our society is in the reward system. Public soccer leagues are a case in point. In a public soccer league, especially at the younger ages, trophies or other prizes are given to each player at the end of the season, regardless of the team’s win/loss record. I cannot help but view this action with disapproval, for it Defeats the purpose of a trophy or prize. During the ancient sporting events, the victor would receive a laurel wreath as a symbol of his victory. The trophy was a sign of greatness and personal achievement. The man who wore the wreath was looked upon as the “king” of his sport. This is no longer the case. The Pee-Wee league mentality has, in the name of equality, actually created a competition where it is impossible to win, and the trophy becomes meaningless. Another effect the Pee-Wee league mentality has had on modern society is that it is now commonly believed that each person, regardless of preexisting qualifications and opportunities, is entitled to “equal playing time,” or the same things. All over the world, nations have implemented different welfare and entitlement programs in the name of “equality of conditions.” When Tocueville talks about equalizing conditions, he is referring to the social state that occurs under a democratic government. In this state, men are constantly driven to acquire wealth for themselves, and the more wealth that is acquired, the more equal conditions tend to become. But Tocueville made it abundantly clear that there would always be some who were richer than others, and that this was as it should be. Nowhere does Tocueville say that it is the role of good government to ensure and provide sameness. He says that government should only protect equality. While these two words are similar in meaning, they are not congruent. The basis of their difference is that equality is based on the rights of man, and that we are all equal in the sight of god, while sameness is materialist at its heart. Equality is the practice of allowing anyone to try out for the team. Sameness is making sure everyone gets to play on a team. On the flipside of the Pee-Wee mentality is what Stephen Covey called the “win/lose” and “Win” mentalities. The win/lose mentality is pretty self-explanatory. This mentality says that “I’m the winner; you’re the loser, end of story.” The win mentality is just as competitive, but ends in a slightly different result. When someone has the win mentality, the fact that someone else is losing becomes less important, what matters is that you win. While the win/ lose mentality is the more confrontational view, the win mentality is the more inherently selfish. With the first, one can fight for a cause or country, but with the second, no such thing is possible because it’s all about what you want. These are the two contradictory paradigms of sports: the one in which by making sure everyone wins, there isn’t a real winner, the other which is all about winning. I found the following quote in a New York Times article. “At youth sporting events, the sidelines have become the ritual community meeting place, where families sit in rows of folding chairs aligned like church pews. These congregations are diverse in spirit but unified by one gospel: heaven is your child receiving a college athletic scholarship.” This author said sports fans can be compared to a religious body, worshiping the college scholarship. Was he being overly dramatic, or is there a “religious” aspect to sports culture? I mentioned the Superbowl earlier. Every year this game, which draws as many viewers annually as the presidential elections do every four years, falls on a Sunday. Some have called professional football “the church of the NFL” because so many of their games fall on the Sabbath. Another possibly religious aspect of sports is the admiration of the athletes. If one was to attend a modern American high school, they would find that some of the most popular people at the school are the athletes, or ‘jocks’ as they are sometimes called. People constantly flock around these athletes, as if hoping some of their glory will rub off on them. On the college level, athletes are offered full-ride scholarships if they promise to play for a school. Since the number of athletic scholarships which are awarded each year is quite small, those who get them are viewed as the elite of their sport. At the professional level, the athletes are paid astronomical sums of money for playing a game. The college and professional athletes in America are commonly held up as role models for all to see. If a young athlete is asked what they want to be when they grow up, perhaps the most common answer given is “a pro.” In America, are sports, with their worship of athletic heroes, events on Sunday and “congregations hoping for a college scholarship” replacing our traditional religious worship? It is hard to tell. To conclude, I wish to look to the future. Not only the future of sports, but to the future of society as well. The global movement towards democracy has changed the face of sports. Democratic ideals such as equality and generalization have changed what was once a very individual-focused field into a field dominated by team events. These ideals have also reformed the way American society views personal opportunity. I feel that the heavy emphasis on ‘the team’ brought about by the advance of equal conditions has led men and women all over the country to forget about improving themselves, and instead focus their attention on improving society. While the betterment of society is a noble cause, if the cost is the neglect of improving oneself, is it really worth it? And the focus on ‘the win,’ brought about by sport’s competitive nature, leads these same men and women to concentrate only on themselves and their private victory. The bible states that ‘A housed divided cannot stand.’ The two effects which sports have had on our democracy contradict one another, tending to divide our once united people. I ask, “will we stand?”