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| Brad Blog Jan 31, 2008 |
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| Thursday, 31 January 2008 | |
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Thoughts on the Superbowl
-The Superbowl is a national holy day that is about much more than who will be declared the best team in professional football, and this year that's truer than ever.
-This really is a competition between two understandings of what sports is all about and tells a lot about how the two teams’ fans see the world, even beyond the playing field. Are you infatuated with perfection? Then you are probably a Patriots fan. Do you root struggle for underdogs? Then you will find yourself cheering for the Giants. -The Patriots are looking to cap off a perfect season - at least if the definition of perfection is to win every game you play, even if it requires a little signal stealing from the sidelines... -Led by proudly unemotional coach Bill Belichick, they call themselves a machine. If you are drawn to the perfect execution of an intended pattern of play, regardless of the joy that comes with it, the Pats are your team and perfection is defined by the most efficient path to the stated goal. -The Giants have struggled all along and led by their baby-faced quarterback who has exceeded all expectations, they find themselves reaching for the championship. It hasn't always been pretty, but they have overcome long odds to make it to this game. If you think sports is about the struggle to succeed, to dig deep and locate power and strength you never knew you had, you will be rooting for the Giants. -Although not identical, football on Sunday and church on Sunday are more alike than most of us realize. Like any sacred event, it brings people together to focus on a particular performance which speaks to their hope and aspirations. It’s probably no accident that recreation and re-creation are from the same word. When sports and religion are done right, we feel the fullness of our freedom. We really feel that we are as Gods. -Whether you are playing or watching the sport, you will be reminded of the amazing things our bodies can do, of the incredible capacity that we have as human beings, and how far we can carry ourselves and others if we train hard and work long enough. -We experience that sense of “being in the zone,” what psychologists call “the flow state,” of being where we are suppose to be, doing what we are suppose to do, with the people we want to do it with, and doing it all so well and naturally. -The importance of using this safe experience to teach ourselves and each other the difference between being a fan and a fanatic. The former loves his team but enjoys a great game no matter what, the latter really can not see beyond his own team and can not appreciate the good found in the other one. The parallels to other groups in our world is clear. - People will create communities and celebrate this event, just as they do around religious milestones. Small communities committed to a particular team will connect to each other and to an international body supporting that same team, and ultimately, to everyone who loves the game. |
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