i’m pretty stoked about the new movie 300. i can’t wait to see it. i’m pretty sure on my birthday, my lovely and gracious wife is going to take me to the show and suffer through this testosterone laden movie. the movie is based on a graphic novel, which was based on a movie, which was based on the historical battle of thermopolis, where the 300 spartans took on a million persians in a three day battle. inevitably, the spartans were all killed. wow. gives me goose bumps just thinking about such sacrifice in the face of such odds. to switch gears a bit – i often see sports as a microcosm of life. and in light of the defeat of the spartans, it sickens me to see such goofiness as what has become known as the 50 point rule in connecticut. you see, in that great state, it has now become too uncomfortable to beat your opponent by more than 50 points in high school football. if you do so, even with your third and fourth string players, running the ball every offensive down and playing the prevent on defense the entire game, the coach of the winning team is suspended for the next game. thank goodness this rule was not in place in 1916 when john heisman coached his georgia tech team to a 222-0 score against cumberland. and what’s up with the new rule in washington state that bans booing at high school sporting events? officials claim that if booing is outlawed, a more welcoming environment on the courts and fields will be fostered. are you kidding me? first amendment issues aside, how in the world can you regulate something like this? and what does this teach our youth about society? well, let me assure you that those 300 spartans at thermopolis did not give a rat’s behind whether or not the persians felt welcome in their house, and i’m pretty sure the persians were not at all concerned about running up the score. . . in fact, if they had been, they probably would have lost outright. all this is to say, that america is soft. war is ugly, but the stakes are too high to pussyfoot around. either go in and win it decisively and out right, without question (the persians did and the islamic extremists would if they could) – or get out. after all – if we can’t even handle our kids getting booed or losing a game by 50 in a high school sporting event, we should not be surprised that our society can’t stomach the difficulties that make up the essence and realities of war.
4 comments:
It's funny. You're dead on in your assessment. I was thinking about last year when a kid with a severe mental disability (I think in New Jersey) played in his last high school basketball game in live competition, he drained like six three pointers. The story was compelling because the other team was trying to stop him but he wouldn't be denied. And he rarely played the rest of the season. But on that night he came out and shot the lights out.
The story was incredible because he accomplished something. Would it have been as great if the other team had simply allowed him to score? And you don't hear people whining about the team that allowed a kid with severe disabilities scoring on them. I mean, what about their feelings?
I think in sports the adage is: if you're playing defense, then the other team can score. In life, that's the way it works, too. But we don't like that, I guess. But for the life of me I can't understand why.
If you've not seen the video of the kid, J-Mac, you can watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngzyhnkT_jY
Courage in the face of overwhelming
odds brings to mind a hero of mine.
With London suffering a tremendous
pounding from German Luftwaffe bombers, Winston Churchill growled,
"We shall never give up!"
>>
Another quote: "You can always count
on the Americans to do the right thing...After they've exhausted all
the other alternatives!"
I hope we are still capable of "Doing The Right Thing". This war with Global Jihad began in 1979, and it's has only begun. reb
See: www.usawake.org
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www.lazyonebenn.blogspot.co
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