Sports fans this summer have so far been regaled with a spate of international events that have glued many to their TV screens or even to their seats if they were among the fortunate to actually be present for them. Wimbledon, Queens and Roland Garros for tennis, Euro 2012 for soccer. And soon, the World Olympics.
I have watched quite a few of the games that have been transmitted and sometimes I came out of the "gane" feeling that we have lost the meaning of sport. I was brought up from my young college days on the concept that the honour is not in winning but in having played the game. Is that what we still believe in as we strive to gain the victor's crown? Perhaps there are still some remnants of this philosophy left in the Olympics that start later this summer in London but in the more commercialised sports - as tennis and soccer - I think we have reduced them to nothing more than gladiatorial events... where the participants battle each other to the "death" but without the bloodshed. Could we draw a parallel with a virtual computer game battle where we are able to work out our deepest instincts in a relatively "harmless" way?
Or, perhaps, does this show up our real feelings for each other? Our inability to control our inter-racial feelings within the context of a harmless game? And how harmless is harmless anyway? When one sees body language which says more about the participants and the supporters than they would like to display? Such as clenched fists uplifted in defiance which sometimes may have racial or sexual overtones as if to indicate the submission of the opponent. Or the fights fans get into during the games or afterwards in the streets around the stadia. Caused by racial intolerance which reflects the fans' support of their stars/teams?
Could the slogan for Euro 2012 be a trowback to that blockbuster movie "Blade Runner" about the future of sports? Was Euro 2012 trying to add something else to the discussion when it proclaimed "Respect Diversity" and asked each national team captain to read our a statement in their native language to that effect? This statement was the result of Football against Racism in Europe (FARE) - a network of organisations from several European countries - who set a plan of action based on the philosophy that "Football is the biggest sport in the world and belongs to us all. It should be the right of every person to play, watch and discuss freely, without fear. We want to see the 'beautiful game' played without discrimination. Unfortunately, at all levels of the game, from amateur to international, there are incidents of racism and discrimination. Be it from fans, players, clubs or other football bodies, FARE believes that such behaviour, on and off the field, is unacceptable and unwanted by the majority of fans and players."
One great sportsman who would have definitely support FARE as he believed this maxim strongly was Paul of Tarsus, the Apostle. In fact in his first Letter to the Corinthians he writes: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run [therefore] in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air."
And to his friend and companion Timothy, he advised "...if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules... Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called..... You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,..."
Toi which, another apostle, James, added: "Blessed is the man that endures trial: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him".
Let's enoy sport for the clean enjoyment what it gives us. Keep it clean for everyone.
