May 9/01
LAND O'LAKES -NEWS & VIEWS Home"Throw them to the lions!"
by Bill Rowsome
"Throw who?"
"The Christians, we have to keep the masses amused."
Two thousand years ago, that well may have been a conversation during the era of the Roman Empire, and I muse about how little civilization has advanced since. The masses have been kept amused and distracted by big business and reigning governments throughout the years by similar deeds. Though not as bloodthirsty, they are as manipulative as those who fed the lions of Rome.
Now, big business pits city against city to see who can better shoot a puck into a net, throw a ball through a hoop or down the field, or hit a ball over a fence. Citizens are kept at a feverish pitch to increase their thirst for sponsored products. Supposedly, it is city vs. city, and yet it is a rare thing for any of the players in professional sports to come from the city they supposedly represent. Aren't those merchants wily? We identify with a familiar social group far more readily than with strangers hustling commercial products.
At least in hockey, most of the players come from Canada, although recently that has deteriorated. In basketball, football, and baseball, few of the players even come from Canada. They are imported, paid outlandish salaries in American funds for very narrow skill mastery; so much for national sports. In a similar manner, professional gladiators evolved along with the lion feeding frenzies in ancient Rome.
Am I critical of sports? No way, just of professional and Olympic sports. Both are attempts, akin to feeding the lions, organized by business to promote merchandise, or by governments to distract the population from our perceived miseries.
There is nothing as healthy and beneficial as kids playing sports. Kids, who make up scrub or school teams, create and agree to fair rules, switch players from team to team to create a level playing field, will have many healthy experiences to stand them in good stead in the workaday world. In adulthood, full-time playing should cease, and citizens start contributing positively towards their society. Limited adult leisure play is certainly necessary, and far more beneficial than sitting and being amused. We adults have to get off our butts in the arenas, rise from the couches, and get onto the fields with our kids.
Too soon the parents of playing kids take control with their adult ambitions. The fun stops, and the manipulation of little minds and bodies begins. There is only one goal: WIN. Never mind the benefits of learning to cooperate just for the sake of helping someone else; cooperate only if it results in a goal; you will at least get a point for an assist. Rink rage and criticism of officiating by parents has become a major problem in organized amateur hockey so much for sportsmanship.
Olympic sports encouraged by governments worldwide are no better. Promising young humans are taken out of a healthy full life and trained endlessly for narrow skill mastery. Many are doped with chemicals. All this for the sake of a few moments on a podium, and national applause. What a waste of human resources and just to sell a product! Multinational businesses pay millions to have their product uniquely sold in an Olympic Village and be seen on TV.
But kids need a goal. They need someone to look up to, someone they can imitate. Yes, kids do need hero figures, a champion who will help them traverse some of the rough spots on the road of life. Unfortunately many of these sport and entertainment heroes become very tarnished from the power and wealth they accumulate. For each NHL hero-player, there are many rink rats abandoned in his wake.
What is the answer? I wish I knew, but I feel very strongly that if parents played with their kids to encourage sportsmanship and cooperation, and if they experienced sports as neighbourly and family fun, all of us would be better off.
Instead of tossing early Christians to the lions, as did the Romans, we are tossing our children into the jaws of organized sports. Has civilization advanced?
