Sports? Ha!

[joymongerjim]

Sports? What a crock! How could a conscious, intelligent writer with any conscience whatsoever write anything about sports?

I'm enthused about this "Passions" site, that no one has yet posted anything on the forum with regard to "Sports"!

Inane as it may be, my own first post on this site is intended as a rave against the popularity of competition, polarity, and the win-lose paradigm. I will not endear myself to sports enthusiasts with this post. But since no one else in the forum has made use of this category, I feel it my exclusive territory for berating the category itself, and those who might be its spectators.

Maybe it's spectators I disrespect the most -- those who expect to be excited by what someone else is doing! As I see it, our personal involvements are what we are justified in getting enthused about. If we're passionate about baseball, we're playing it! If we're excited about football, it's the appreciation of our teammates for our own contributions to the game that make our day. If it's basketball that holds our attention, we're practicing free-throws in our mind while we wait for the bus.

In the world I occupy, there's no room for spectators, fans, commentators, reporters, or odds-makers. There's very little space, in fact, for polarities and competition. In my world, we, as individuals, find our strengths and make efforts to refine and express them, such that we can make a meaningful contribution to society while we're exploring and practicing our own talents. As members of society, we find compatible others who share our interests or complement our abilities, and we coordinate efforts with them to accomplish whatever we can't do alone. For fun (in my world), instead of bashing our heads together or struggling against an opposing team, we find ways to share our creativity -- humming in harmony, perhaps, or founding a charity.

But maybe I'm not getting the whole picture. I invite a writer to defend the idea of sports, and maybe to change my mind ....

-- JoyMongerJim

"Be lucky -- you'll be surprised how much it helps."
-- Ashleigh Brilliant