Month: February 2016

One of the things I love about the Super Bowl is that more than most things, “everyone’s watching.” Let’s attempt to put this in perspective…

In the last presidential election, approximately 12.6 million people voted.

In last year’s Super Bowl, approximately 114.4 million of us tuned in.

Granted, not everyone’s old enough to vote, and one doesn’t have to be registered or an American citizen to watch the Super Bowl.

But as said, “everyone’s watching.”

What is also true is that we’re not all rooting the same amount for the same team…

Some people are lifelong Denver Broncos fans; others are diehard Carolina Panther fans (since they first began play in 1995). Some are motivated to cheer on Denver QB Peyton Manning, in hopes of one more Super Bowl win before the future Hall of Famer seemingly soon retires; others are intrigued by the talent and charisma of Carolina QB Cam Newton. Still more cheer on specific others; i.e. my youngest has great enthusiasm for Denver’s defensive specialist Aqib Talib (I think he likes saying his name), and many where I’m from are cheering on hometown hero Luke Kuechly. Still more, no less, are tuning in for commercials only — and several others are only in the room while the game is being played, paying minimal-at-most attention, enjoying this day as one of the world’s premiere social events.

In other words, we watch for different reasons… possess varied passions… feel it differently… express it differently… and are motivated differently. We are, by all accounts, a bit of a divided people group.

As a divided people group, we will eat chips, watch commercials, and remember forever some of the game’s great moments…

We will enjoy the halftime show, and hope for no wardrobe malfunctions…

We will see if Peyton’s still “got it” and if Cam can keep it going…

Yet what I appreciate most about this division, is that while as a collective whole we root for different teams and players — different people and parties — is that there is very little “take that,” “you idiot,” or any demonizing of the other team.

We play the game, accept the results, congratulate the winners, and act like mature adults.

I think that’s it for me…

In much of the division on this planet, there is too much demonizing… too many cave to believing they have been somehow blessed with the omniscient ability to cast another team, player, people, or party as all evil… all bad… all arrogant… all racist… all sexist… all dishonest… all narcissistic… all ignorant… all idiotic… or all yada yada something. Too many see themselves as all-knowing to do such casting. Too many demonize due to division. Too many more justify following along.

One of the things I love about the Super Bowl, is that we are better at dealing with the division…

… and that we eat a lot of chips.

Respectfully…
AR

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every now and then a story comes along that prompts a bit of a pregnant pause. There’s something that causes me to stop and take an extra glance. Granted, the reality is that in most of these stories, my perspective is limited as our information is incomplete. Such happened recently in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”… in girls basketball, no less. According to the Minneapolis City Pages, “the definitive source of information for news, music, movies, restaurants, reviews, and events in Minneapolis”…

“Most children are encouraged by parents and coaches to ‘do your best’ and ‘give 100 percent.’ One girls basketball team in Minnesota is being told ‘Hey, that’s way too much.’

The Rogers Area Youth Basketball Association girls high school team was booted from the Northwest Suburban Basketball League for being too good — seriously.

‘We found out Friday at lunchtime that we’re not going to be allowed because according to the league, our girls were too talented,’ coach Jason Hanauska told Fox 9 News.

Hanauska says three teams were threatening to forfeit games or leave the league, so RAYBA was kicked out instead.

Parents of RAYBA players received a letter from the head of their association with this explanation: ‘The Northwest Suburban Basketball League has decided RAYBA does not fit into the league. The main reason they made this decision is because other teams do not want to play RAYBA due to the skill level.’

‘Are we supposed to play worse just to make them happy?’ RAYBA player Tessa McCarthy said.”

After a meeting was held to brainstorm potential solutions on Jan. 25th, the RAYBA team was banned…

…For being too good.

One editorialized report, in fact, read in conjunction with this post, suggested the following spin in regard to the girls’ play:

“They turned out to be monsters, crushing their opponents in the first two games.”

[Emphasis mine.]

I get it. This is tough stuff. It’s hard in the Little and littler leagues when one team dominates. It’s challenging to face another opponent when the chances of winning are seemingly slim. But teenage girls as “monsters”??

There’s a part of me, no less, that’s highly tempted to scream and shout (as much as I actually do scream and shout), wondering if this is a direct result of current culture’s equality bandwagon going too far… having to limit the playing field… giving everyone a trophy… unable to acknowledge differences in performance… unable to affirm excellence in another.

While it is certainly true that “all men were created equal,” it is equally true that “all men” do not possess equal ability.

We have each been uniquely wired by our Creator, doing some things better than others…. possessing some skills better than others… doing some things actually worse (… watch me ice skate sometime; I totally stink). The reality is — which FYI, might actually be a better thing to teach teenage girls — that we are not all equal in terms of ability.

I do confess, that if I was on the other side of that girls basketball team, having to face any so-called kind of “monster,” that would be a hard for me; I don’t like to lose.

But I would also hope that another team being “too good” or more skilled than moi would never be cause for me to quit or them to be kicked out. Otherwise, this embracing of equality — and ignoring of unique ability — has gone too far.

Respectfully…
AR