No answer
for life’s great crises or paradoxes will be found in this submission. I deal
with a tension in my soul every time I allow myself to think of the
ridiculousness of the question. What is entertaining and why?
The upcoming
Super bowl prompts this self-directed question. I would like to spend, though I
may not get to, three hours watching a bunch of guys fighting over an oblong
ball. They will huddle in a circle for several seconds. Then for several more
seconds they will try to take that ball across a manicured field. All that time
they will be pushing each other, knocking each other down, and getting paid
millions of dollars in front of millions of people. Can I justify three hours for that!
I enjoy
watching NCIS. The writers generally put in less blood than most good guy-bad
guy shows, and I love watching Abby’s miracles with all those computers and
analyzers. Who do you know has the analytical skills of Gibbs? At times I’m
just in awe.
Then there
is the Bourne Trilogy. Watching Jason Bourne is liking watching McGiver with a
gun in his hand. By the way I really miss McGiver. He is my kind of good guy.
Bourne is after the bad guy and tries to do what’s right at every turn. He even
refuses to shoot someone who has been trying to kill him. I find this
entertaining.
Competition
does not have to be violent, yet it can be very exciting. Watching runners is
an example. You have to admire the training that is endured to produce the
performance necessary for an under four-minute mile. The 100-meter dash that
produces someone who carries the title of fastest man in the world can get you
to hold your breath throughout the race! This is great entertainment.
Yet I look
at our darker side and I have to ask myself that question, why do I find
football entertaining. I can say that I enjoy watching the spiral in a 60-yard
touchdown pass. I love the athletic ability exhibited when the receiver has to make
a 36 inch vertical leap to catch it. I am energized as I watch a running back
break through a hole created by his offensive line and race for a 98 yard touchdown.
Then there
is the defensive back with the smarts to read the offensive play and gets
himself in just the right position to intercept a pass. I admire the speed that
a safety finds when he realizes he is the last line of defense against a sure
touchdown pass and he outruns the receivers for a play-ending tackle only a few
yards before the end zone. I find this all exciting.
I also like
seeing the defensive line of my team smash through the offense of the team I
don’t like. We’re talking full body contact here! I like seeing my team’s
offense knock the other team’s defense on their backs into the grass as well. I
enjoy seeing all this too.
In college I
once asked a classmate if he was going to the football game that afternoon. He
said he wasn’t. I asked why. His response? “I’ve seen a football game.” All the
aspects of the game I found enjoyable, he found a waste of time. I could say
the same thing my college friend
said about a car race on a big oval track . It seems to me people only watch the things in hopes of seeing a
wreck. I’ve seen a car race.
Whatever
part of the Super Bowl I get to see, I intend to enjoy. Yet I still have to ask
myself the question, is there a difference in the pleasure I get in watching
highly trained athletes perform well and the burst of energy I get from seeing
a hard tackle or someone getting their feet cleaned out from under them. Sports
can lead us to strive for physical and mental improvement that simple acknowledgement
for the need might never do. But do we need the violence to provide the
entertainment? Have we really changed all that much from the days of the Roman coliseum?
