On Saturday, Michigan at Ohio State and Florida at Florida State dominated our flat screen (… congratulations, Buckeyes and ‘Noles). It was great. In fact, this whole week has been sweet; it’s “rivalry week.” Rivalry week means the fiercest rivals finally face off against one another.
They bring their so-called “A” games. Emotions run rampant. They leave it all on the field. That’s key: they leave it all on the field. When the contest is done, they remember that they have more in common than they do not; after all, they both love football.
Because we both love football, we remember that we are not defined by our “teams.”
One of the clear challenges in current culture is that we are encouraged to “pick a team — any team,” but when we do, the encouragers want us to stick with it, always. They forget (and they encourage us to join with them in their unfortunately, seemingly self-serving forgetfulness) that the “teams” are only subsets of what’s bigger. Remember that both Michigan and Ohio State fans each love football. If only they could remember that we are “football fans” first…
The Intramuralist is concerned at the numbers of persons who justify forgetting what’s first.
Let me first not negate the fierceness of the above. Oh, no… not at all. I will not deny it nor encourage said denial in any way, shape, or form. The passions run deep; they are based on valid perspective, and thus our loyalties are strong. Because those loyalties are strong, sometimes we need a self-imposed timeout — not a timeout to regroup and figure out how we can go “get ‘em” or sabotage somehow; rather, a timeout to gather our composure, re-commit to listening, and figure out how we can move forward together, respecting all people; that’s right: respecting all people — which means respecting the other “team.”
Eight years ago, in our early days of blogging, we penned a post about the change in quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. Many were thrilled with some new guy named “Rodgers.” Others had invested years of emotion and support in former QB Favre. There were reasonable, objective arguments on both sides of the playing field — although many could only see the reasonable and objective from one side.
“What should I do now?” I then asked.
“…do I support the team even though I thought the other guy would be a more effective leader?… or do I remember that I’m a Packers’ fan first, and in order for our team to near any level of greatness, I need to respect the QB, whether I previously cheered him on or not.”
Respect takes on many forms, friends. It doesn’t mean I have to be happy nor fake it when I’m not. While it manifests itself differently in each individual, there do exist three common threads:
One, listening.
Two, humility.
And three, no disparagement of the other team.
Let none of us be arrogant. Let each of us be gracious. No team or QB is perfect; let us not dissect the specks in the eye of another without first wrestling with the logs in our own. There is indeed a bigger “team.”
Remember, too, that “rivalry week” is more than one game or one sport. In fact, it’s also rivalry week in my family’s fantasy football league. I’m playing my spouse, my fiercest competitor. One of us will win; one of us will lose. And let me raise the stakes a little higher: with a loss, one of us (moi) may be kicked out of the playoffs.
At the end of the day, however — maybe after an intentional cooling off period — we will remember that we are a part of something bigger. Not only is it bigger; it also is what is best.
Respectfully…
AR