Well. That was fun.
I speak, naturally, of Ohio State's wholly unexpected triumph in the national championship of college football. When the roll is taken of those who saw this coming more than three weeks ago, I confess that my name won't appear thereon.
There's something particularly zesty about a sporting triumph that I'm afraid a lot of people are missing, based on my Facebook wall. There's still some SEC-taunting (of which I wholeheartedly approve, don't get me wrong), but it verges on sounding just as obnoxious and ignorant as was all of the chest-pounding from the Southeast, as though one national championship, and a great story make for a dynasty. Also, I've noticed people snarkily taking shots at it (the whole "sportsing sportsers!" angle), and the "This doesn't matter. There are more important things in life." followed at last by attempts (few, and far between, thank heavens) to compare the post-game revelry in Columbus to Ferguson.
Since my readership isn't super high on this blog, it strikes me that posting here is a way to say the following quietly:
1) College football is cyclical. The only problem I've had with the SEC is the patently mindless belief that they've always been better and will always be better, and are better by birthright. Enjoy it for what it is, but don't let it write your biography. Nick Saban will be back, Mark Helfrich will be back. At some point, we'll lose to them, again. And then, at some point, we'll beat them again, too.
2) Not that many people seem to require a reminder that there are things in the world more significant than football and football championships. Probably, most of us spend more time worrying and thinking about money, grades, time and relationships, much less economies, ecosystems, terrorism and epidemics than we do celebrating or stressing about football. A joyless salvation ain't.
3) Those who scoff at sports on social media seem to me to by their very scoffing sacrifice any right they have to be irritated when sports fans mock their correspondingly not-that-important interests and hobbies. Those who don't have hobbies, interests, or things that they get all wrapped up in that aren't massively important should note point 2, above.
4) Bizarre as it is to me that people riot to celebrate victories, last night wasn't actually that wild in Columbus, nor particularly unusual for a large American city following a major sporting event. No one got hurt, there was no serious damage, and fewer than ten arrests. Attempts to derive trenchant political commentary by comparing the two seem like they have about the same amount of a point as dragging a couch into the street and setting it on fire. Funny, in a way, but not helpful.
My own take: how awesome was that? A third-string quarterback and a close-knit team overcoming adversity (and not adversity of the Jameis Winston self-created variety) and the betting line to win the first championship of the new era of college football, and in the process knocking down the king gorilla of the jungle's loudest chest-pounding posse? Two games that were as agonizing to watch as they are fun to remember? The glorious feeling of somehow being identified with having won something, and triumphed over all comers? Fleeting as it is, it's pretty exhilarating, and it makes me appreciate having been created as the kind of being who can watch other people play a game a thousand miles away, and still come out of grinning ear to ear for the next month based on the result.
I speak, naturally, of Ohio State's wholly unexpected triumph in the national championship of college football. When the roll is taken of those who saw this coming more than three weeks ago, I confess that my name won't appear thereon.
There's something particularly zesty about a sporting triumph that I'm afraid a lot of people are missing, based on my Facebook wall. There's still some SEC-taunting (of which I wholeheartedly approve, don't get me wrong), but it verges on sounding just as obnoxious and ignorant as was all of the chest-pounding from the Southeast, as though one national championship, and a great story make for a dynasty. Also, I've noticed people snarkily taking shots at it (the whole "sportsing sportsers!" angle), and the "This doesn't matter. There are more important things in life." followed at last by attempts (few, and far between, thank heavens) to compare the post-game revelry in Columbus to Ferguson.
Since my readership isn't super high on this blog, it strikes me that posting here is a way to say the following quietly:
1) College football is cyclical. The only problem I've had with the SEC is the patently mindless belief that they've always been better and will always be better, and are better by birthright. Enjoy it for what it is, but don't let it write your biography. Nick Saban will be back, Mark Helfrich will be back. At some point, we'll lose to them, again. And then, at some point, we'll beat them again, too.
2) Not that many people seem to require a reminder that there are things in the world more significant than football and football championships. Probably, most of us spend more time worrying and thinking about money, grades, time and relationships, much less economies, ecosystems, terrorism and epidemics than we do celebrating or stressing about football. A joyless salvation ain't.
3) Those who scoff at sports on social media seem to me to by their very scoffing sacrifice any right they have to be irritated when sports fans mock their correspondingly not-that-important interests and hobbies. Those who don't have hobbies, interests, or things that they get all wrapped up in that aren't massively important should note point 2, above.
4) Bizarre as it is to me that people riot to celebrate victories, last night wasn't actually that wild in Columbus, nor particularly unusual for a large American city following a major sporting event. No one got hurt, there was no serious damage, and fewer than ten arrests. Attempts to derive trenchant political commentary by comparing the two seem like they have about the same amount of a point as dragging a couch into the street and setting it on fire. Funny, in a way, but not helpful.
My own take: how awesome was that? A third-string quarterback and a close-knit team overcoming adversity (and not adversity of the Jameis Winston self-created variety) and the betting line to win the first championship of the new era of college football, and in the process knocking down the king gorilla of the jungle's loudest chest-pounding posse? Two games that were as agonizing to watch as they are fun to remember? The glorious feeling of somehow being identified with having won something, and triumphed over all comers? Fleeting as it is, it's pretty exhilarating, and it makes me appreciate having been created as the kind of being who can watch other people play a game a thousand miles away, and still come out of grinning ear to ear for the next month based on the result.
