CxD#281: Two ways of watching Sports
There are two ways of watching sports.
The first gives you the thrills of an us vs them tribal satisfaction. Your opponent or the other team are your enemies. Face paint is required. Winning or losing is like going to war. Often hatred is involved. I remember as a Mets fan I used to hate the damn Yankees. This is one reasons why humans are always provoking war: there’s a subconscious level of enjoyment in seeing others as enemies. And when one is vanquished, we feel empty until we create another.
Another way of watching sports is to root for every athlete, hoping to witness them achieve something never yet done or to overcome tremendous odds to win a game they had no chance of winning. There is a sense that you are rooting for everyone without exception.
This second way requires character because it’s hard to overcome some of our primal tribal survivalist instincts.
I watched the clip below of a husband supporting his wife in the Olympic triple jump. It’s been a while since I had so many tears of sympathetic joy pouring down my cheeks.
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Even more wonderful was discovering that “the gold medal husband” is Hunter Woodhall, a Paralympic medalist in the 400 meters!
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May we all learn to love and support each other in everything we do like these two.