Is there any foreseeable end to the
politically correct rubbish that has permeated our society?
The latest is a local report that
stopping or advancing a soccer ball can be deleterious to the health of our
children. Wow, no wonder so many of these soccer kids are such a mess when they
reach their teenage years. Perhaps we can trace road rage to this phenomenon.
Get this, politically correct
idealists! If you look at anything close enough, you’ll find something ugly
about it. Even the supple skin of a beautiful woman looks rough and scaly if
you scan it under a microscope.
Before addressing the possibility
of spawning a society of teenagers and young adults with fatal forehead
contusions, let us understand how sports became such a vibrant part of American
culture.
In the decades following the
American Revolution, our nation was an agrarian-based society. As soon as
youngsters could walk and think, they were engaged to help their families plant
and harvest the crops and tend the farm animals.
The kids got plenty of exercise,
although breathing in the fumes from horse manure may well have caused
traumatic brain disorders. Reading and
witnessing politically correct horse manure surely does, but back to our
history lesson.
With the advent of the Industrial
Revolution in the 1800s, more and more Americans left the farm for 9-to-5
positions as bankers, manufacturing managers, lawyers, etc. They found that
after a day’s work, they had leisure time.
Baseball, or some version of it,
was being documented as part of life in New Britain midway through the 19th
century. As Americans recognized the merits of enjoying the great outdoors and the
health benefits of physical activity, other popular sports evolved in the
century’s latter stages.
What are sports but a microcosm of
war. Man’s violent nature and unquenchable thirst for excitement ignited many a
bloody conflict since his very arrival on the planet. Sports provided an outlet
so men could exercise their masculinity without killing each other.
Think for a minute how sports have
evolved? Baseball rapidly became our national pastime. Pastime translates as an
amusement or hobby. If you still think it’s a pastime, you haven’t been
following the coverage it gets on all the incessant talk shows that have turned
it into a soap opera.
The other part of that evolution is
the games themselves.
In the NFL, they have all but done
away with the kickoff return. Quarterbacks are placed in glass cubicles so when
300-pound men are hurtling toward them at maximum speed, they are expected to
stop or be penalized.
Friends, football is a violent
sport. If you venture to strap on the helmet and affix the pads, you are
acknowledging the concept that you may get hurt. If you don’t want to get hurt,
nobody is forcing you to play. If $3 million a year isn’t enough to convince
you to play, become a data analyst and play golf on your day off.
What if bullfighting had been an
American tradition? What about buzkashi, the national sport of Afghanistan
where participants attempt to advance a headless goat carcass.
Yes, football is violent, and
soccer can be, too. I’ve covered hundreds of games and witnessed myriad
injuries.
Hundreds of incidents leading to
injury could arise during games. How many soccer players have sustained a knee
to the lower midsection where the family jewels are stored? A player could step
in a hole and break a leg. Heading a soccer ball could cause a brain injury. So
could a meteorite falling from the sky.
And is this so vital that it needs
to become front-page news? Between that, and media outlets eviscerating the
political candidates of their choice for making the simple mistakes inherent to
being human instead of highlighting their differences so voters can make
educated choices, I’m beginning to recognize the value of cultural isolation.
For so many years, I referenced the
quote by former Chief Justice Earl Warren in support of my calling as a sports
reporter.
“I always turn to the sports pages first, which records
people's accomplishments,” he said. “The front page has nothing but man’s
failures.”
After reading some of the trash in today’s papers and the
sensational revelations about athletes in the new media that have nothing to do
with the games, I use another famous sports quote uttered by a mere child on
the steps of a Chicago court house nearly 100 years ago.
“Say
it ain’t so.”
