Christmas, Football, etc.

Christmas has come and gone, and unless you are one of those strict church calendar people adhering to all parts of the Advent season, it is time to take down the decorations and move forward. I got a little weary this year of the colors red and green, the ornaments, the packages, the lights, and constant Santas everywhere. But rather than becoming a Grinch about it all, I decided that the joy seen on people's faces blended with the pleasant conversation were worth the commercial excesses. People were generally nice this Christmas and it made me glad for the season. With a bold declamation I say to get rid of the meanies and let's make the attitude of Christmas last the whole year. After all, it is really about the birth of Jesus Christ and about the love he imparted during his brief time on earth.

Schlotzsky's has made a new marketing push lately and is emphasing the O in its name. On the side of the building I see a large, painted O that is complemented and further emphasized by the street sign that brings out the O in the word Schlotszky's. This is all fine and probably a good idea for the company. It gives the franchise a definition and a way for people to remember it as they drive by. This is not dissimilar to the golden arches of McDonalds or the star looking asterisk at Walmart or the little Wendy girl or the big red chili or the orange glow of Home Depot. We tend to reduce places and stores down to the essential visual representation and prolong that which we readily see and understand. When I see a large O, do I think of food at Schlotzkys? Maybe unconsciously I do. But what if acknowledgment of this truth is a little too self-deprecating. Is it possible that we as humans are quite predictable, a little too simplistic, and that we are being tricked into some kind of response to outward stimuli? If so, and I suspect it to be true, I am going to wage my own private personal battle against reacting to the chicanery that exists around me. No more burger thoughts for me when I see the arches, no more thinking about cheap items when I see the funny Walmart asterisk, and no more sandwich thoughts when I see a large O. Resist the norm, fight the typical, punch out the expected I say and don't let the marketers shape your emotions or your footsteps. I'll take the road less traveled and do the opposite from what "they" want. So there. I feel better already I think.

Watching a football game last night, I was once again disturbed by the bad, harsh and boring announcing I heard. Repetitive and predictable comments such as "I tell you what...this is a football game," or "If they will cause a three and out, then they can get the ball and drive down the field," or "He can stand in the pocket and throw downfield with the best," or "What a terrible call by the officials." I have decided that when it is all said and done, there is just not much you can say about the game. It is not really all that complicated. No matter how much money is spent, and how many commentators are placed on camera, or how many stats you can find, in the end football is just a game. Fun, exciting, energetic but just a game. Move the ball downfield and score. One team has the ball and one team doesn't. Let's play the game and stop trying to turn it into a world war requiring analysis of every little event.

Then as I was watching it, and incidentally enjoying the athletic skill of the players, I saw a player tackled from behind. He caught the ball but was hit hard by the defender and his back seemed to twist unnaturally into an obviously painful position. When he came down, he was hurt and helped off the field. Now I don't mean to sound like a wimp and I do think there are times for manly displays of strength and courage, but really is this worth it? We scream for them to hit hard but then worry when they do. We want to see the player tackled but cringe when he goes down. We are striving to care for the sick, the lame, and to live a refined life free of violence and destruction, but then we are willing to spend billions of dollars for a game that causes pain. I am not sure I understand this any longer.

This is not to say that I am innocent of such emotions, for I enjoy a good football game as much as anyone. I love to see a man run fast down the field and avoid the tackles. I enjoy a wonderful pass and I fear for the kicker trying to win the game with a field goal. But I do not appreciate the brutality I see and I do not understand how a refined society can accept a situation that inflicts pain on other people. Maybe this is why I find myself preferring baseball and basketball (although it can be rough as well) over football. Others need not share in my opinions but I do exercise my right to express them. Football is a fun game, but let's not let it rule our lives and may we never value the hurt it can cause others. When we embrace human suffering we have reduced ourselves to a low denominator not far from the primitivism of the past.