The Game of Sports

Are sports built on a misunderstanding of what the real game is?

There would be more honesty in sports if we would admit to ourselves what the game really is, and who is playing it.

First, let's be honest about winning.

We can win as much as we want, unless we're playing against ourselves. But then, what's the game?

In my racquetball club, the real game is choosing who to play against.

I can win all my games if I only play the people who predictably lose to me. But this game isn't so fun to play. So we ask the winner of the B league to play in the A league next time.

Golf has a good solution—a metric for achievement and a handicap system. But then, who are we competing against? I'm always competing against myself —to improve my level of achievement.

Can this be what all sports is about or should be about?

We sometimes look back in history to debate who was the greatest fighter, third baseman, passer, etc.  But eventually, we have to admit it’s a permanently open question, because next year, or next decade, someone else will come along to break the record.

So we can pick the best in the same way we assure our own perfect record. I can win by playing people I can beat, and my choice for best passer can be best passer for 1989, in the Super Bowl. 

Second, the fans, who argue interminably about their favorite teams or players, are engaged in the most important exercise in the life of "sports."

Their care and commitment are what make everything, including sports journalism, possible and worth while.

We all know that.

Yet we don't treat this as a sport in itself. I think its time to give the fans credit as "players" in the most important game. 

Professional "players," on the other hand, have, for the most part, learned that they have a job, and the game of life is the main game they play.

Since their livelihood depends on the fans, they learn to appreciate the nuances of the fans' competitive rites of appreciation. 

Sports would be a lot more honest if we admit what the game really is—to get other people to care, and affirm my caring, about who "wins" or was "best." 

I get myself to care by reminding myself that play is just play, enjoyable in losing or winning, depending on which role we choose in this play.