Lame Sports

It’s Just a Game

By Ross Weingarten

The biggest news from last Saturday’s college football games was that Ohio St., a perennial national championship contender, lost to upstart Illinois, continuing a topsy-turvy season in which seemingly traditional powers are vulnerable. However, the most shocking thing that I saw on Saturday didn’t come during that upset, but rather afterwards. Moments after the Buckeyes lost their first game since being decimated by Florida in last year’s title game, reporters asked Jim Tressel how his team would respond. He looked worn down and depressed, still shocked that his team had lost a game, and at home no less. The Ohio St. coach looked like the loneliest guy in the world.

Is this not crazy to anyone else? He lost a football game. The Buckeyes still have a chance to play in the Rose Bowl, they will still be a great team next year and for years to come. More importantly, Tressel is still a phenomenally successful coach with total job security, an adoring fan base and, I believe, a loving family. How could he be upset over one game? The answer is the “Win or Die” culture that has emerged in sports.

Athletics have always been important. Fans have always rooted hard for their favorite teams or athletes, cheering a win and sulking after a loss. But recently, sports have taken on a whole new meaning, one that I think is over-hyped and irrational. It starts with fans. Intense fantasy leagues, sleeping out to get tickets to the big game or wearing the sweatshirt of your alma mater every game for the last thirty years are harmless, albeit slightly irrational ways in which being a super-fan can manifest itself. But there are much more dangerous ways that sports can take over our lives. Brawls after soccer (futbol) games in Europe, riots on college campuses after big wins (and, occasionally, losses) and death threats to opposing players are the abhorrent, yet relatively commonplace affects of this ultra-competitive culture that we live in today. Being a fan is a good thing, being obsessive is not.

Players and coaches also subscribe to the theory that the sport they play is the most important thing in the world, as Tressel’s comments show. We hear it all the time from the athletes we admire: “This is a must-win game.” “We have to win tonight.” “It’s a war, and we need to win.” Um, speaking of war, there’s a particularly nasty one going on right now. American soldiers and innocent Iraqis are dying everyday. No offense to the athletes, coaches, fans and boosters that place the utmost importance in the games, but they are just that: games.

I don’t want to preach, for I am a major sports fan, and am miserable anytime one of my favorite teams loses a game, but here it goes. Growing up, my 86 year-old grandfather would always chat, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” I used to snicker at him and say that how you play is important, but only if you win. Now I see his wisdom. With so much wrong in the world, with so many pressing issues at our metaphorical doorsteps, why do we care so much about sports? If your favorite team loses, be upset. But know that your job, your friends and your family will all be there tomorrow. In other words, there is no such thing as a “must-win.”

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