“This virus will leave us entirely newborn people. We will all be different, none of us will ever be the same again. We will have deeper roots, be made of denser soil, and our eyes will have seen things”.
(C. Joy Bell C.)
Just another day, but different. When I was a kid I loved summer. Long days filled with sunshine, bike rides, swimming pools, barbecues, cousins, neighbors and baseball!!!
Every year since I could remember I played little league. The summer of ’79 was looking like it would be the same. Except for one little thing: Chicken Pox (Varicela).
It covered me in small, itchy blisters and, worst of all, made it so nobody wanted to come within 10 feet of me. I could smell the barbecue and hear the laughing outside as the kids wildly rode by on their bikes, dogs barking, balls bouncing. I was 10 years old going on a hundred. I was so sick. All I wanted to do was go out and play and be with my friends. My Abuelita used to say “lo único que uno debe pedirle al Señor, es salud”. So true.
Funny how a simple, microscopic piece of genetic material which survives by hacking and replicating in weak cells can put a person down. It is only fitting that the Latin word for poison is virus. So, I can relate to dealing with poison replicating in my body. Poisoning my summer vacation.
Still, it was unexpected when on Wednesday March 11th of 2020 COVID–19 came by to give us a wake-up call. The day that most professional sports leagues shuddered to a stop. It was like that summer all over again. All my plans put on hold.
Historically, it is not the first time sports has come crashing to a halt. There are many instances where, be it due to illness or human intervention, the ball has stopped bouncing. Perhaps now, (that we are all stuck in our homes spraying antibacterial solutions on everything), now would be a good time to meditate on what sports truly represent for us. Just how much of it is hype and marketing and how much is a true reflection of our hopes and desires?
Sociologically speaking, sports are an essential and important aspect of society. They impact on many levels of social interaction, including economics and the mass media. Sports represent community values and even politics. In some cases, sports, and those who participate in them, define the morals and ethics of society as a whole. We as fans reassert our values through sports. They give meaning to our lives. Sports give us a sense of community. They build up our physical and mental well-being. Especially when we win. Winning makes us indirectly successful.
But it would seem that losing brings out the worst in us. If sports is not just a game and is a direct reflection of us as whole, what’s with the violence we witness more and more often in and around the sports we love? Be it physical, the fighting between rival fans in Jalisco Stadium at the end of the Atlas vs Chivas match, or emotional, like the “EEEEEEY $%&!” chant prohibited by FIFA. Violence, in any form, mis queridos Chiva Hermanos y Hermanas, is simply unacceptable on any scale.
This includes the media. The media whose true objective is to inform and be witness to history, seem to have taken it upon themselves to create hysteria out of the most meaningless pieces of news for a fistful of dollars or pesos as it may be. I doubt that true sports fans want to know the ins and outs of our favorite athletes’ personal lives. The act of opening a newspaper or a web page submits us to a type of terrorism on a larger scale when we read about athletes infidelities and substance abuse. How is that sports news? How is that news at all?
The media bombards us with infinite information which may or may not have any basis but which creates a sense of foreboding, of evil. Are our heroes anything but perfect? All those images are also a reflection on our societal values. Why not promote the good we see in others rather than the bad?
As a reflection on society as whole it is only fair that we also expect that the athletes, fans, and media that promote sports, should participate to also uphold our communal ideals. It is a moral obligation to act as a role model for young kids and to give back to the community. We, as a society, must make sure that sports is a way to improve our lifestyle and to become an inspiration for a younger generation.
Think about that when you next go to the stadium. Think about the image you want to project to the world and those around you. If we truly appreciate being able to go out and cheer for our favorite athletes, we as fans need to analyze our moral and ethical values.
Hopefully, this hiatus will bring change. Yes, it’s just a game. But it is a game we all play. Help us to grow deeper roots.
