The Coming of the Superb Owl

I rarely watch televised sport, but I am about to host my family super bowl party in the same way I do each year.

In this season of life, a season with small children where my weekends are as precious as they will ever be, I cannot make time for it on a regular basis. There are too many competing priorities, and it just does not rise to the top.

But as you might guess from the fact I'm hosting a super bowl party, I would not say that it is without value. I am not part of the crowd who looks down on 'sportsball'. I absolutely know what so many see in it, and believe that there is real good one gets out of sport as a spectator. Especially out of complex sport, like baseball or football.

• Sport is more than just physical contest. It is a battle of wits, and it is a satisfying mental exercise to put yourself in the shoes of the coach, the QB, the pitcher and try to diagnose what you think is the right plan of attack.
• This  level of enjoyment requires a deeper knowledge of the sport, and so some commitment of time, but I think is the cerebral element that the critics of sport do not get in their limited brush.
• Watching experts is one of the better ways to learn to do. 
• Professional athletes represent the peak of human physical potential. They should inspire a certain level of awe, not just for their raw power, but their discipline, their dedication to mental and physical preparation, their control.
• I think the also serve as an antidote to the idolatry that might believe that spiritual strength comes chiefly through discipline of the body in this way. Yes, many professional athletes behave like young men who have suddenly come into money at the same time as many limitations are lifted, because that is precisely what they are. They do not behave badly because they are less the masters of their bodies than you are. They have pummeled their bodies into submission in a way we never will; it just happens that they need Jesus, and that pagan excellence has its nadirs.
• Barnett had an interesting point, in that watching the exultation of the victor we bask or participate in the reflected glory. Now I'm not sure he views that in quite the positive light that I do, but I think that the core of it is really an empathetic impulse. It is the rejoicing with and in the attainment of another. I would categorize it along with vicarious suffering in literature. It is good to feel these emotions--the exhilaration of victory and the pain of defeat.
• Sports does create a shared pool of knowledge and experience, and so forms a great initial field for breaking the social ice and establishing connection with others. You might wish that it was something truly ennobling that we all shared, like theology, shakespeare, or Magic The Gathering, but it is sports, and it is good to have something.

Now if we note the things that are good about sport, we should also note the obvious evils:

• We want the young men to take away an appreciation of the discipline and dedication of the athlete, but they appear more primed to take away an appreciation of how nice it must be to have lots of money and no limits.
• Sports betting is a scourge. I just read Lonesome Dove again, and there is the scene where blue-duck entices the others to gamble with him, and you know he is going to fleece them, and they are going to be hateful and violent when they get over their bender. In the same way, sports gambling is a fleece job, and brings out the very worst in men. In my kingdom, digital gambling would be illegal. If you are going to throw away your money you need to drive somewhere and throw dice. Vice should require effort.
• There are people who spend entirely too much time watching sports. A grown man should not spend his entire weekend in front of the TV.
• I'm not sure this digital gluttony would actually go away with sports. The average millenial spends an average of more than 7 hours of screen time a day on entertainment, with post pandemic levels of total screen time rising to over 13 hours a day with remote work.
• We have a screen gluttony problem, and sports are part of that, but it is clearly something much larger behind it.
• Pro sports tickets, merchandise, and premium TV packages are incredibly expensive, and I think there are probably people Angela's Ashesing the credit card money on tickets they should not be buying, but it will be fine when they hit their parsnip...parsley...parley!

The evils have precious little to do with the sport itself, and whether the spectation is worthy or unworthy. The sins associated are sins of the belly, which in some cases would find other outlet. The notable exception is sports gambling, where the hyenas have glommed onto the social acceptability and ubiquity of sport to find vast new markets of suckers to fleece. Evil mosquitos.

Sport is still good. You should still watch it, but like all things, with moderation. So I'll have my little superbowl party. We will take a vote on who to root for, support that team, bask in their glory, and enjoy the skill and the pageantry of this mightiest of modern tournaments. We'll have a fun time and  use the game as a pretext for eating silly foods that my children only taste once a year, like Doritos. Really not a bad way to pass an evening.