ANGRY YOUNG MEN

Last post I revealed that I am a football fan.  I realize not all my friends share this passion.  Some detest it.  Most on the basis of the waste of time, money, and energy spent on a sport that is so physical that there is almost never a game when one or more players doesn't sustain an injury.  There are, thankfully!, new and stricter rules for tackling and protocols in place about evaluating concussion-related injuries and ensuring adequate recovery time before returning to the field (not on the same day, for heaven's sake!)  Still, I know it is a rough game.   It is a game that I was so afraid of when Son-One wanted to play in 8th grade, that I refused to sign the permission slip.  So Hub did.  Hub, who played in high school and college until a knee injury sidelined him.

So, what am I to make of this game I am enjoying so much?  Why do I suspend my usual non-violent tendencies in general to embrace this pastime?  Well, I think it goes back to childhood memories, as I noted in my last post, of sports being a fixture on TV in our home.  I think it goes back to teen years of watching my boyfriend, Hub, on various fields of play.  I think it goes to raising boys who were rambunctious and sports-crazed and sitting, again, at various sports venues to cheer them on. I think it is a vicarious projection of my own inner competitive nature, deeply buried, yet able to come out as a fan.  I think it is the sense of community in joining in the rally around the home team.

Yet…After the game on Sunday in which we won, at the last second, on a defensive play by our star cornerback, Richard Sherman, Sherman was the "go-to" guy for the first sideline interview.  He immediately launched into a rant about his offensive counterpart on the other team and a boast about his own prowess.  I cringed.

He is known for "trash talking", but those across the country don't also know the side of him we in the hometown know of his personal story: a straight A student taking AP classes in the gang-infested neighborhood of Compton CA,  graduating from Stanford,  and developing into the best player of his position in the NFL.  No easy feat.  They don't know how articulate, funny, and friendly he is when he's not 30 seconds from having made the play of his life against his arch-rival.   So, since Sunday, his ill-timed and wrongheaded "interview" has been in an echo chamber of media attention.  Our Quarterback, Russell Wilson, who is relentlessly upbeat, positive and articulately soft spoken has nearly disappeared from view.  He's usually the upfront guy.

Football is a testosterone-fueled game.  It is a game in which "playing with a chip on your shoulder" is used as motivation to do well.  Many players on the Seahawks were passed over or picked late in the draft by many teams before landing in Seattle.  Richard Sherman was drafted in the 5th round -- 23 players at his position picked in front of  him.  Russell Wilson was a 3rd round pick.  Doug Baldwin, the Hawks wide receiver, was an undrafted free agent and is also having a standout year.  All have said they are out to prove their worth…prove to those who overlooked them that they missed out on something special.

Is this "anger", this desire to prove themselves, something to deride or to celebrate?  And when they show their worth on the national stage, having just reached the game that is the pinnacle of every football player's career, the Super Bowl, do we begrudge them a bit of a boast?

Well, I do wish Richard had toned it down just because I knew the firestorm of judgement and controversy it would create.  I appreciate Russell and Doug for the their more soft-spoken joy of accomplishment.  But that's just me and my Scandinavian heritage.  If the underdogs wanna do a bit of howling and growling, I guess that is their due.

The lesson I have learned is that making a snap judgement about a person's "class" or "character" in the heat of an intense moment, without benefit of the fuller story of a person's life, is also ill-advised.  Let's all pause,  no matter the situation, and let the emotion pass.  Then, let's get on with the sport of life --  hard-fought, well-played, and full of celebration.

At least, that's the view from here…. ©