Sports provide regular little morality plays for us all

One of the many reasons I love sports is that the very act of keeping score means there are likely to be surprises. The Denver Broncos dominated in most areas in yesterday's game in Dallas, for instance, and looked like a terrific team. Last week they looked awful. The Cowboys are still a better team but for one afternoon, the Broncos were in control.

Unlike most of life, where it is quite difficult to discern winners and losers, particularly in any longer view, athletic contests (with a few exceptions allowing for ties, which seem un-American) produce discrete results. 

But the scores are not really the story, and not really why I am a sports fan. In the case of the Broncos, there was a sense of the team creating a sort of mind over matter approach just a few days after the team traded away a defensive legend and so many players were unable to play due to Covid and/or injuries. Heck, the starting quarterback didn't know he could even play until just a few minute before warmups due to being near a backup quarterback who has tested positive.

Second- and third-team players stepped up and played quite well... perhaps only needing a chance to shine. And, of course, those same (maybe?) overachievers may drop back to mere mortal status next game. 

I have always been a fan of having some sort of opponent to battle against. I am a particular fan of labeling those we are in competition with as "they" or "them," which makes the battle less personal and more existential.

I remember so many conversations with other teachers where we moaned about what "they" were doing to our school or program or particular interest area. I'm not sure we really knew who "they" were, but they were certainly in the wrong. When we are battling the forces of evil, no matter how illogical that may appear when it comes to keeping score of a game, we can manage all sorts of feats, playing a bit "over our heads" for a time.

I wondered if the Packers, forced to play without their All-Pro quarterback due to his Covid infection (not to mention his lying and egotism about the entire issue), might rise up and find a way to defeat the Chiefs. That might have been satisfying to some, but I found the fact that they lost a close contest to be precisely the correct result.

Someone on the Packers didn't really play fair and the team suffered. That sort of cosmic balance doesn't occur enough for me in the world outside sports. The last administration, for instance, went out of it way to NOT play fair, and not much negative has happened to any individuals. Maybe I just need to be more patient.

I have mentioned this before, but sports are not as much about scores and results as about people overcoming challenges, exhibiting amazing skills, inspiring entire communities and much more. Upsets are expected, oddly, and undefeated teams sailing to championships are a bit boring.

Here's to our underdogs and hats off to people not being satisfied with "almost."

Sporting events are always about more than the score

Ever wonder if high school sports have gotten a bit out of hand? If you were still not certain, last week's ESPN national game between a tiny Ohio charter school and a Florida powerhouse program, both of which represented schools that were essentially founded to provide top-notch football competition and which ended with a 58-0 blowout by the Florida school should be the decider.

It turns out that the Ohio school is only three years old, founded by the head coach, and had played just TWO DAYS before this nationally televised "contest."

Everyone is embarrassed. The announcers early on recognized that the rosters they had been provided did not match uniform numbers and that the ten Division I prospects the coach had boasted about did not exist.

I have not even begun to get into all the craziness involved in this, but you might want to read this article to get some sense of it all.

What did not seem to rise to the level of "news" is the very existence of high school football programs that play national schedules and that act as feeders for hot shot college programs. Education officials in both Ohio and Florida should be ashamed and tax payers should be outraged. Neither will occur because this is America and, you know, freedom.

Back in the dark ages when I played high school sports, there were no club teams, no charter schools... heck, my high school did not have a weight room! I was able to play at a mediocre level in three sports, but that is now so rare as to deserve a special story in the local press.

My guess is that the new Ohio charter school will soon be disbanded. Good. But there WILL be a next time.

If there is money to be made, Americans always find a way.