(This is about football mainly...people who follow other sports may disagree)
I love sport. Or at least...I thought I did. I used to think, from watching it, I'd see glimpses of purity, and the humanity common to all, which would be shown by the rare moments of sportsmanship, where the players would occasionally rise above themselves, and acknowledge that, at the end of the day, it was indeed just a game.
I loved how team sports were reliant in equal measure on individual skill and collective will, and how, maybe, perhaps, at the highest level, with players exhibiting perfect technique, it becomes less of a sport, and more of an art. There's a special, intangible element present. See
here for what I mean.
I loved how sport was a perfect example of the manifesting of human potential through endeavour at the highest level (on the physical plane), and how one could take inspiration from that and apply it to growth on the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual planes.
But I don't see it anymore. The sportsmanship is going, and money proliferates. Money is now necessary for the sport to flourish at the highest level. As a result, the heart is gone, and the cold, ruthless brain dictates how teams play...they don't play to win anymore...they just play to avoid loss. Parasitic elements like agents proliferate. Players are becoming prima donnas. Fans have no patience when their team loses.
And so it is that I'm beginning to drift away. Perhaps the beauty of sport, and the true corinthian spirit that I seek is not to be found at the highest level anymore, but in just playing for the sake of playing, with friends and family, where it matters not whether you win, draw or lose, but how you play the game.
Perhaps the fault lies with me, for reading too much into what is essentially a human creation, and so eventually, inherently flawed.
