By Ronald N. Guy Jr.
This column started as a four-article experiment on
the connection between sports and everyday life.
That was nine years ago.
It has been an amazing experience. Humbling.
Challenging. Fun. Some of the most enjoyable pieces to write over
the years have been those scratched out before New Year’s. Here we are again, loyal Times readers. I’d be lying if I denied feeling the pressure
to deliver something special. The
blinking cursor…it’s a bit intimidating, even a little sinister.
In prior New Year’s pieces, I’ve spun through expected
angles: the rapid passage of time, the preciousness of the moment and the
importance of meaningful giving during a season now mostly awash in the frivolous
exchange of stuff. The very first New
Year’s “View” - at the end of 2009 and on the cusp of a new decade – opened
with a melancholy review of the ills that marred the first 10 years of the new
millennium: the circus-like 2000 presidential election, Katrina, steroids in
sports, the murder of Sean Taylor, a cratered stock market and economy, Enron
and, of course, 9/11 and the years of war that followed.
On the cusp of 2017, the underlying gloom of that
piece has been rekindled. Why? The post-Presidential election blues? Kinda.
For this piece, though, the winner and the loser of
the election is immaterial; it’s the process that matters. Mudslinging between candidates used to be the
recurring, accepted low of political campaigns.
Not anymore. We just witnessed
the president-elect’s venom transcend his opponent and spew all over everyone
not belonging to a narrowing segment of society. It was disturbing rhetoric diametrically
counter to the basic tenants of this country and Christian fundamentals. Service-academy football even took its lumps.
To many voters, the president elect’s messaging was politically
fatal, no matter the flaws – and there were many – of the other candidate. Others made peace with it after broadly
considering all issues, the other option(s) and their personal situation.
But here’s the thing: Six weeks after the election,
with the dust settled, the political emotions calmed and the healing
peacefulness of the holiday season, I suspect an overwhelming majority of
Americans are feeling rotten about what went down. Maybe not politically rotten (if your candidate
won) but rotten in a human sense. It was
a bad look for America and a supposedly decent people.
Another wild and likely popular guess: Washington
isn’t going to instantly reinvent itself as a group of elected officials selflessly
committed to constructive discord and producing for its customers. If there’s any swamp-draining to be done,
it’s up to us and whatever decency and togetherness we can cobble
together.
That aforementioned New Year’s 2010 piece didn’t just
resonate because of its melancholy.
After ripping off a depressing list of 2000-2009 events, that version of
this writer eventually countered with an overwhelming menu of feel-good moments
courtesy of local sports: the
Ravens’ Super Bowl victory, Maryland’s men’s (2002) and women’s (2006) basketball
championship, Georgetown’s return to the Final Four (2007), the Expos moving to
D.C., the Capitals drafting Alex Ovechkin, Cal Ripken getting enshrined in
Cooperstown and Art Monk and Darrell Green being inducted into the Pro Football
Hall of Fame.
I just
slammed the clutch to the floor ahead of another dramatic shift in tone, this
time without specific examples and in concept only. I needed sports ahead of 2010; I need sports
again ahead of 2017. More than the
diversion, I need sports’ example of people at their best. Between the lines, backgrounds, race,
religion, politics and other “isms” dissolve; judgements are based on effort,
attitude and talent. Between the lines, success
and failure are shared and a common cause unites every coach and name on the
roster. Deceit and indecency are not
tolerated.
Sports
aren’t always perfect, but if we were to vote on whether to nominate a football
team or a presidential campaign as the singular example of human progress, I’m certain
the former would win in a landslide. No
recount. No hanging chads. No Electoral College shenanigans. There’s no vote in 2017, but there are plenty
of games to watch…together. That’s
reason for optimism.
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