Monday, November 8, 2010

I Don't Get Sports . . . or Politics

Perhaps it is a product of moving around so much, but I really don't get sports. I just can't conceive of being so emotionally tangled up in what is, in the end, JUST A GAME. Maybe I don't have enough emotional real estate to spend it on that.

If I or one of my loved ones were playing, I could see getting excited about it. But not when I'm supposed to be rooting for a team which has nothing to do with me except it is nominally residing in the same place I am. (Not that ANY of the team members have any loyalty to that same place, it's all about the scholarship or the money, right?)

Same goes for politics. Do people really think a vote makes much of a difference? Even if I were able to slog through all the detritus that makes up political "commentary" (I prefer the word "kvetching") to sift out whatever grains of Truth Gold might be lurking beneath the manure, I believe that our system is deliberately organized to keep any one person from making all that much of a difference, even the President.

Perhaps especially the President.

And I don't believe that there are more than a handful of politicians out there who really want to do good. But I admit I've become a rather vehement cynic.

Does it really matter which color shirt you're wearing? It's all the same game, right? And the players in either game don't switch sides based on loyalties, believe you me.

5 comments :

  1. Hi SilverRain,

    Your post reminded me of a piece I read recently about how much the US President really matters. You might find it interesting.

    http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/13/how-much-does-the-president-really-matter/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, I agree that one voice alone makes little difference. And even many voices united can generally gum up the works but often do little more to move things along.

    But it does not deter my participation by voting. I figure if I don't do due diligence and vote my conscience, then I have no place complaining on the other side of the election.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those are views I have held for quite some time. Although,for certain types of personalities, sports and politics are good outlets for emotion and energy. For those of us a little less combative, there is blogging. And for everyone there are high-calorie desserts.

    ReplyDelete
  4. In addition to the items you mention above (politics and sports) I would also add bewilderment about the fascination women have with feelings and discussing them ad nauseum.

    It doesn't serve any practical purpose worry about the feelings someone else has when there is a job to be done or work to be accomplished.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hah, Michael. What a man opinion. :D

    Actually, when it comes to accomplishing work as a group over long term, the feelings and emotional state of the members of that group are quite relevant.

    ReplyDelete

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