Our political system, from local government through national politics, relies on candidates contesting for votes, and political representatives contesting over policy proposals. It is not surprising that commentators often use sport metaphors when talking about the games of politics. The same insights apply to political contests. Politics can be dedicated to pursuing excellence in public service or they can degenerate into entrenched battles over narrowly defined ideologies and personal careers. Debates over policies can be honest efforts to allow the best ideas to surface or they can be manipulated sound bites designed only to placate donors and voters.
I’ve been reluctant to blog about Tiger Woods. So much has already been said. In fact, when he fell from the pedestal, he could have drowned in the bad ink that he received. But I would like to pick up on a point that has not yet been adequately discussed.
In the “true competition” framework, competition is all about finding enjoyment in the strenuous pursuit of worthy goals. At times, Tiger seemed to exemplify this. He was willing, for example, to risk losing in order to go through a learning curve as he changed the mechanics of his stroke. He knew that ultimately it would make him a better golfer.
But did Tiger find a deep and abiding sense of enjoyment in his play?
Let’s face it. There are a great many terrific coaches. There are also a lot of idiots. I don’t mean to be derogatory; simply accurate. By “idiot,” however, I don’t mean what the word typically connotes today. Rather, I’m returning to its original usage. In ancient Greece, an idiot was a person who was only concerned about their own good. An idiot was someone who was self-centered. They were not involved as contributing members of the public life of the community. They were takers, but not givers.
March has arrived and with it comes madness. The term “March Madness” was originally coined by Henry V. Porter in 1939. Shortly before the turmoil of WWII, he wrote in the Illinois High School Athlete about the excitement that swept his state in connection with the playoffs. I’m sure he had no idea of the expansive future that the term would hold.
The NCAA basketball tournament provides us with a fascinating opportunity to reflect on the meaning and value of competition.
Welcome to my Blog!
This is my first post so let me take just a moment to share with you what we’ll be talking about here. The theme for this blog is – competition. This means we’ll be talking about lots of different things – sports, politics, business, love. Competition is everywhere.