Sport is like religion, love it, loath it, its difficult to ignore and probably not in our best interests to do so. Religious types get all het up when I say that religion is like sports teams but the similarities are too striking not to notice. Both are for the most part determined by geography and family. They also have their zealots who will blindly adhere to their beliefs irrespective of any empirical prove to the contrary. Do the similarities end there? I think not. Just as we can learn much about our and others culture from the study of religions, so too we can learn from sports. Spanish and mexican bullfighting fits easily around a culture that celebrates death. American sports are insular like the 80% of Americans that do not own a passport. There is a world series baseball championship that is only competed for by US teams, despite the fact that Japan has been -playing the game (at a high level) for decades now. Only at the olympics do the USA field a national team to compete. Furthermore the concept of a draw seams to be an anathema. The only sport it appears in, is professional boxing and that because the rules were first laid down in England (Marquis of Queensbury). US sports are much more TV friendly, with short periods of action interspersed with stoppages. Very convenient for advertising. British sports are more grass roots. Evolving from the participation rather than the spectator. Take for example football. Originally this was played by two villages, with teams consisting of every able bodied man. The goals would be miles apart and the melee would take a full day to push the the ball towards the opposing goal (if ever). To this day soccer remains a relatively low scoring game. Similarly golf is a far better participation rather than spectator sport. No mention of UK vs US sports without reference the most archetypal English game of cricket. It not Englands favorite game. (that is soccer) but it defines us most closely.. A sense of " fair play " or " a level playing field " are morals that us brits aspire to even if we fall short sometimes. Also the game itself is one of dogged determination. A batsman can be facing balls for a day or more. A test match is much like deep stack limit poker. Played from Thursday though to Monday with often no winner. View this attitude when you look at historical events such as WW2. The Battle of Britain was not won. It was a draw or more importantly not lost. I leave this admittedly broad stroke ramble with a link to one of my favorite albums. Made by two Irish guys about cricket and its rise in professional sport. Bear in mind as you listen the superbowl had an estimated viewing audience of 100 million. India is cricket mad and has a population in excess of 1.3 billion.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Sport is ultimately frivolous and has little tangible effect on anyone's life, this much is true.
But there's no reason not to enjoy something that's fun and generally harmless. Even to do so enthusiastically. If different cultures tend to breed differing preferences about sport, that's really no different than different cultures breeding differing tastes and preferences about food or music.
Don't hurt anyone because of it, but by all means have a good time!
ErikGunderson
Level 6
Feb 8, 2018
0
I never saw me doing religion until the end of my life... I do saw me doing sport until the end of my life. You put me in front of a rim and give me a basketball... I may take a shot. I threw away my softball uniforms... my cleats... my gloves... my bats... don't buy basketball shoes but I may jog now and then... don't watch super bowl or world series or world cup or davis cup or return of tiger woods from cough syrup rehab... neither do winter or summer olympics... but the right lady ask me to go to a game... I will abide and have fun... but I prefer any of those to god... I may had been a "jock" at one time in my life but sports was never my religion. Was simply something I did while I was young. Just as now I do dancing and music is not my religion... is simply something I do. It is just how I see it. I could be wrong... been wrong before.
GipsyOfNewSpain
Level 9
Feb 6, 2018
0
This is my point. I got a much better insight into the American psyche watching " Field of dreams " than I did watching a whole host of other movies. It has a strong faith that things will get better, one only has to believe in mythic America. As to " the right lady " I give you rupert holmes other hit.
@273kelvin There is a lot of goodness in sports. To see buddies of you becoming an Olympian in basketball even if it was for a little nation like Puerto Rico it is still an honor and remind me seeing him at age 8 been an annoying little kid telling me... you can't play when he was a "ballboy" in my team. There is fantasy movies about every subject you can imagine and sports will not be an exception. I recommend you "the natural" and I even did a little story about the last baseball glove that Roberto Clemente used in a game before his tragic death and ending in a japan collection. Sports is perfect because is full of "icons" to be worshipped as in religion but it is maybe me be able to walk away without looking back on things that will not put them in the same plane. It is simply that to me the "Religious is looking for servitude in exchange for Immortality... the jock... bow down to the immortals of the sport regardless they are dead or alive and the fan knows that no matter how much servitude... there is no immortality for him/her". I am more in tune with the arts and those I consider immortals like Lautrec, Modigliani, Vermeer, Velasquez, Dali, Picasso than sports dudes or religious icons. Shit... I still do art for my satisfaction. So do music. But never as a fanatical. I guess not in my veins. But sports have benefits like any other discipline.
@GipsyOfNewSpain I loved that film " the Natural " Especially the fanfair score at the end written by Randy Newman. Here`s one by my favorite atheist musicians
@273kelvin Baseball is the "american past time", not football... why? because baseball was build on Superstition. Lucky bat. You see the Latinamerican batters making the sign of the cross. Playing with a rosary under their uniforms. The rally hats in the dogout. Doing things exactly the same way or doesn't work. The hitting routine is a personal ceremony for a every player. The Curse of the Bambino and the billy goat curse just lifted 2 seasons ago are part of the sport folk and lore. I guess no different from the little church in Puerto de Santa Maria, SP with the the little piece of wood claiming to be part of the cross of the christ and were columbus spent the night praying before departing. You ask me... he was sleeping. And I saw the piece of wood... how the hell will I know if is or not?. Not to say it is behind glass. And didn't change me in anything seeing it. But I have no faith or superstition to correlate.
@GipsyOfNewSpain Cricket is similar but its built on class. Traditionally it would be played on the village green . The manor house vs the village. This extended into the 1950s where participants would be divided into " gentlemen and players " ie. amature or profesional. In " Raffles the gentleman thief " the hero only steals so he can still play cricket for the MCC as a gentleman. Once unmasked the shame is so great that goes off to the Boar war and is killed. That is the upper class view, us lower classes look at it as an opportunity to get back at them. Also as a spectator you can drink beer all day in the (hopefully) sunshine and when I say all day its from 10.30am till the light fails (play is suspended twice for meals to be taken). Nowadays it is all profesional. One bright spot is its about the only thing that will bring India and Pakistan together.
@273kelvin Always find interesting how "cousins" hate each other that much. example india and pakistan. why the beef?
@GipsyOfNewSpain Religious mostly " there is but one god and Mohammed is his prophet vs hindu with so many gods. Also cultural, the carnage that they inflicted on each other during the partition was genocidal.
@273kelvin Thank You and they are cousins!!!!
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