Bob Ryan gets it
A conflict of interest emerges when sports and spirituality begin to overlap. Sports is about winners and losers, survival of the fittest in a pseudo-life-or-death arena. Spirituality is about cultivating man’s highest ideals, like wisdom, altruism and compassion. Do great spiritual beings (or God, for that matter) really care who wins the World Series? Spiritual seekers might view sports as a lesser domain because it fosters coarser emotions and aspirations. How can both co-exist?
This is a dilemma that several of our interviewees have described, when I asked them what spiritual technique might best help our fans become more effective rooters. I was hoping that they’d share a partcularly powerful prayer that would empower the Sox to beat the Yankees. But these eminent researchers said that the very act of choosing sides in any sports contest cuts down on the open-heartedness that is needed for fans to pump out coherent vibes, and that the most effective cheering actually roots for an expression of the game’s innate beauty, for overall excellence to be expressed, regardless of who wins. Not exactly an attitude that would find much support within Red Sox Nation, I suspect. So what a surprise to find ace Boston Globe sportswriter Bob Ryan talking about just this frame of mind in a recent article.
His August 25th article called “Tracing his roots as a fan” is subtitled “It’s not about who’s to blame”, and that gets to the essence of our dilemma. He admits that he loves to see his favorite team win (duh!), but he also confesses that there have been times when he roots for the higher glory of the sport. This happened to him a few years ago, while watching the Yankees’ Mike Mussina take a no-hitter into the 9th inning against the Sox. Ryan admits he actually would have preferred to see a perfect game by Mussina than a Sox victory. His motto is:”it must start with, and always be about, the baseball, not the blind loyalty to a team”. He quotes a fan who relished the “companionship and enjoyment of the journey through the game” more than the outcome. Noble, perhaps even spiritual, sentiments, but where would they get your home team?
In fact, these high ideals do help your team. This more altruistic focus creates what physicist William Tiller calls “standing waves” of coherent electromagnetic energy that move out from the fans to envelope the players. It’s the best way to give your favored team an energy boost, even though it means having to give up your focus on winning as the ultimate goal. There’s a Zen paradox for you – the most effective fans are the ones whose love of the game is greater than their need for the home team to win. I wonder how many folks like that belong to Red Sox Nation?
This is a dilemma that several of our interviewees have described, when I asked them what spiritual technique might best help our fans become more effective rooters. I was hoping that they’d share a partcularly powerful prayer that would empower the Sox to beat the Yankees. But these eminent researchers said that the very act of choosing sides in any sports contest cuts down on the open-heartedness that is needed for fans to pump out coherent vibes, and that the most effective cheering actually roots for an expression of the game’s innate beauty, for overall excellence to be expressed, regardless of who wins. Not exactly an attitude that would find much support within Red Sox Nation, I suspect. So what a surprise to find ace Boston Globe sportswriter Bob Ryan talking about just this frame of mind in a recent article.
His August 25th article called “Tracing his roots as a fan” is subtitled “It’s not about who’s to blame”, and that gets to the essence of our dilemma. He admits that he loves to see his favorite team win (duh!), but he also confesses that there have been times when he roots for the higher glory of the sport. This happened to him a few years ago, while watching the Yankees’ Mike Mussina take a no-hitter into the 9th inning against the Sox. Ryan admits he actually would have preferred to see a perfect game by Mussina than a Sox victory. His motto is:”it must start with, and always be about, the baseball, not the blind loyalty to a team”. He quotes a fan who relished the “companionship and enjoyment of the journey through the game” more than the outcome. Noble, perhaps even spiritual, sentiments, but where would they get your home team?
In fact, these high ideals do help your team. This more altruistic focus creates what physicist William Tiller calls “standing waves” of coherent electromagnetic energy that move out from the fans to envelope the players. It’s the best way to give your favored team an energy boost, even though it means having to give up your focus on winning as the ultimate goal. There’s a Zen paradox for you – the most effective fans are the ones whose love of the game is greater than their need for the home team to win. I wonder how many folks like that belong to Red Sox Nation?
posted by Rick Leskowitz,MD at 8:56 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home