Sport may not be a matter of life and death but it engenders the same emotions. I am sure we like to lead our lives in the same manner as we play or view our sport. In the heat of the moment, players and fans alike, cross society’s notion of fair play.
Sport cannot be separated from life. It is a reflection of our values, our social fabric and ultimately our worth as human beings. Just like art and business and politics. Sport can be uplifting, it can demean, it can trivialize and it can educate.
We are all capable of compassion and love. It should come as no surprise that we are capable, also, of hate and bigotry. We are also exceedingly hypocritical when it comes to sport.
Why should elite athletes sniffing cocaine be any different from a judge in silks with more white powder on his nose than on his wig? They are both supposed to be role models, are they not?
The Allstars Indigenous game so soon after the floods showed that sport can ease the suffering caused by a vengeful nature. It showed it could influence a change in perceptions that had been perpetuated by small men with myopic vision. This we can control.
The deliberate beamer or the calculated tackle that seeks to maim. Players holding their ground when they know they are out.
Tennis and cricket players used to be able to berate umpires before Hawkeye. Now they challenge more in hope than in knowledge. A cynical challenge is exposed for what it is. All this we can control.
Dan Vettori has stated that he wants to win tomorrow’s match for the people of New Zealand. Noble sentiment but is it going to make the Blackcaps unbeatable?
New Zealand is without a physio and a trainer and Ponting has graciously promised New Zealand full use of his back-room boys.
Australia will be compassionate but I do not think they will “let” New Zealand win. I do not think Southee will be bowling half-trackers to Watson because of the floods in Ipswich.
He would be aiming to hit Ponting’s little pinky.
Scott Styris will want to head-butt anyone wearing the green and gold. The umpires will not be charitable towards New Zealand. And this is as it should be.
Life is neither fair nor unfair. Sport is very much like this. We would all like to remember Muhammad Ali as the indomitable warrior in the jungle. His thrilla in Manila.
But we have to accept that now he cannot control his hands. This is out of his control.
We eulogise our sportsmen because they rise above personal loss. Jeev Milkha Singh, days after his wife’s miscarriage, chose to play a golf tournament. His wife and father encouraged him.
Such is the therapeutic power of sports. It is an elixir that Roche would love to patent! This they cannot control.
September 11 2001 brought New York to a shuddering halt. 11 days later on September 22nd the city was reenergized.
Rudy Giuliani, the mayor of New York, was at Shea Stadium and gave the thumbs up to a city and nation still grieving. Mike Piazza’s stratospheric homer brought a cheer so loud it momentarily banished the morbidity of the September 11 madness.
When WW2 broke out, President Roosevelt recommended baseball continue to be played. The Munich massacre, Kennedy’s assasination; nothing diminished the power of sport to heal and uplift.
Soon after the Mumbai terrorist attack, Kevin Pietersen led England back to India. I spoke with Kevin Pietersen two months ago and asked him if he had any reservations about going back to India so soon after the tragedy in Mumbai.
He said: “Not even for a moment”. Indian fans will remember the courage of the England team long after they have forgotten the tragedy of Mumbai.
In the end life must go on. How we chose to live it is up to us. This we can control.
Sometimes it is difficult to reconcile to a world that seems uncaring. But it is worth remembering that tragedy does not discriminate. It is also worth remembering that when one loses a loved one it is better to celebrate their life than to mourn it.
May the best team win tomorrow.
Republican
Guest
ChrisT I have to agree with you. I will go a step further in suggesting this breeds a culture of pathos which I am quite intolerant of. I take exception to those sports journos and others, who indulge in analogies with ANZAC, War and sport especially. Cheers
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Republican,I promise to tell it exactly like it pans out. Stay tuned and look forward to your assesment, cynical or otherwise,tomorrow.
Republican
Guest
Cynical as it may sound, Vettori's comments are pure gamesmanship me thinks. The Kiwis will win this in a dawdle. NZ sporting teams alwayd carry more motivation and passion into contests when v Oz and now they have added incentive through this national disaster in the Cch earth quake. Conversely Australian sporting teams continue to underestimate NZ ones, which has always been their undoing. Pontings men are destined to take this game lightly and will suffer the consequences. Having said that the Kiwis look to have far more fire power batting wise whereas we are relying on our pace bowling in attack - again. I have often felt our batting lets us down time and again, putting undue pressure on our bowlers to compensate for their ill discipline. This will again be evidenced v the Black Caps with an unprecedented batting collapse by our Australian top and middle orders, topped off by the all too familiar wagging tail, not that that's any consolation.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Ok,Chris,we 'll leave it at that.
ChrisT
Guest
Vinay, i take your point and i understand your motives for writing the piece. However Vettori's comment about winning it for those struggling with terrible loss only further illustrates mine. I strongly suspect those directly affected by the tragedy couldn't give a monkey's about the outcome and it's misguided of sportsmen to elevate their own importance to these levels. The only people who will have their lives changed in any minor way by 22 blokes playing cricket will be those who don't really need uplifting after events in Christchurch. I just sense sometimes we all take sport a little too seriously and elevate it and those that play it to places they don't belong.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Chris,with respect,you are taking a statement in isolation. In time people that suffer losses will move on and be uplifted by art,or sport or something else. But far from debating the point the intent was to offer relief and it was writtent as a mark of respect and offering compassion. No more,no less.As Dan Vettori says the game today will go some way in taking people's mind off the tragedy for a little while.
ChrisT
Guest
Beautifully written Vinay as always and noble in it's intent. But beware statements like "Sport may not be a matter of life and death but it engenders the same emotions". Tell that to the hundreds that stared for days at a pile of rubble on the tv screen wondering if their wife, husband, father or mother could still be desperately hanging on to life. Sport just doesn't engender the same emotions as life or death. Nor should it. Sometimes I think we'd be better off remembering it is just a game and our indulged sports men and women are just players of a game.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
The best I've read from you, Vinay. It seems you've done as Meursault did on his final page: "I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe."
sheek
Guest
Vinay, Emotionally invigorating reading! Tragedies remind us how fragile our lives can be, & how dear we should our loved ones. Australia won't be doing NZ any favours when they meet. Both countries would probably want to know if NZ win, that they win on merit. To 'gift' a win is condescending, & will do nothing for the morale of either team. What we want is for the two teams to go hammer & tongs like they usually do against each other, & play a tight game won at the death by one of the other. In the end it won't matter who wins, but that everyone's spirits was lifted by a stirring contest.....
Wall-Nut
Guest
Well said, I agree completely, my heart goes out to Chirstchurch as I have family there my self. My cousin has very close friends who are in hospital as I speak. Certainly by all means keep the cricket going, very happy the Crusaders having a round off even more if needed. Use these games as charity matches. Good story. Cheers Vinay -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Campbell Watts
Guest
Nicely said Vinay! Go the boys in black!