Sports, A Microcosm of that Game Called Life
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by Ron Sen, MD
Since the dawn of man, we have competed to see who could run the fastest, jump the highest, throw the farthest, and hunt the best. Sports naturally evolved from that harsh competition for survival on a hostile planet. Maybe language emerged to facilitate 'trash talk'. You never know.
Rather than celebrate excellence, we prefer to insult each other. Some try to diminish the accomplishments of Team A by saying the opposition was weak, injured, cheated by officials, or otherwise prevented by succeeding. Others, like Steve Young, clamor for 'sportsmanship', oblivious to their own destruction of rivals in years past. Maybe it was the concussions that dulled the memory.
Yes, indeed, facts are such stubborn things. Let's examine a few facts and opinions, and remember the distinction.
- The Red Sox payroll advantage guaranteed their victory over Colorado. The old adage says, "money can't play." The Twins, Angels, and others have won with lesser payrolls than their opposition along the way. Of course, while money can't buy happiness, it can make your shopping a lot more interesting. The extension to that argument would be to award automatic playoff berths to the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, and Dodgers.
- "The race is not always to the swiftest or the battle to the strongest, but it sure pays to bet that way." The New England Patriots, regardless of their football skills, sure do cover the spread a lot.
- The BCS leaders enjoy rankings disproportionate to their real ability. I don't think anyone not wearing 'whale pants' would argue that BC would be favored to beat Oregon, Oklahoma, LSU, USC, and others ranked behind them.
- Growth hormone treatment for adults is common? Evidently, if you read the Paul Byrd story, you might think so. At best, treatment with Human Growth Hormone in adults is rare, expensive, poorly covered by insurance, and not widely substantiated by evidence-based medicine, but admittedly has some theoretical attractiveness...especially for NFL hopefuls.
- Scott Boras, Alex Rodriguez, and any other ego can fit in the same room. Come on, stop lying to us. Boras' and A-Rod's narcissistic interruption of last night's World Series Game ranks somewhere between backing up over a skunk and making fun of the handicapped. Don't blame the Yankees, they have written off the regular season star and moved on. Boras and A-Rod present a compelling argument for collusion. But Boras is the best at what he does...sort of like praising serial killers.
- Hockey, a civilized sport. Watching replays of Patrice Bergeron 's head being slammed into the boards only reminds me of why I never watch hockey. You do that anywhere else in the world, you go to jail. In the NHL, you're just a physical player.
- Maybe we need two Olympics, the drug-free one and the 'bring your chemist' one. But that might not even cover it, presuming you haven't had a chromosome test.
- Sports grow fans from seedlings, don't they? You wouldn't know that from MLB. Ask any child how they enjoyed the World Series and how much they talk about it at school. (Silence). You're making my point.
