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The "EveryBody" Insider |
| Playing the Wrong Game -
Fighting the Wrong Fight By Bahati Osayimwese © 2004 ETBlack.com I enjoy good athletic competition. I love the adrenaline rush that I receive while looking at or participating in sports activities. Of course, there are side effects associated with the overuse and/or misuse of athletic competition. As a spectator, one may experience the growth or the diminution of one's ego and self esteem as one's team or favorite individual meets success or failure. The euphoria of the ego rises and falls as the score/time on the court or the field or the pool or the track or the ring or the mat changes. One's self esteem and life's meaning in a particular instant is synchronized with the beat of the athletic competition. All that matters is the outcome of the "game". I love high school football. My alma mater has a good team as far as records go. They usually make the playoffs on a regular basis. I do take some pride in the performance of kids that I really don't even know personally. But, since they wear the uniform of my old school, they have my support and blessing. When I watch my old school's team play, I get a thrill. But, of course I do not wish to take anything away from the other team's kids either. I do feel somewhat proud of the kids on both sides of the field. Whichever side wins one game can get my support in the next game. I have seen some fans show up at the games with a great sense of urgency and dedication as though the game is bigger than a game. And, by design one is encouraged to view the game as being bigger than a game and bigger than life as though that which is played out on the field is far more relevant than anything else that may be occurring anywhere on Earth ( or in space for that matter). The game IS it and that's it! At the end of one game which my team lost, one of the fans from the other team asked me "did they score again" as I was walking through the parking lot. At first I did not understand the question because there were only a few seconds left on the clock at that moment and the score was fairly lop-sided plus I didn't know WHICH "they" was being referred to. Soon I then realized that this individual was probably not able to gain entrance to the stadium to see the game first hand. This fan faithfully monitored the game from the parking lot. After hearing the roars from one side of the field or the other the fan will ascertain whether a score was made and by whom was it made. Even though this fan's side had won this game by a large margin, I felt particularly sad because this faithful fan could not see this great game first hand. Yes, even though my team lost I would still categorize it as a great game. I was able to sit and enjoy all but the last remaining seconds of the game by choice but this other fan probably saw little if any of it. During this most recent season ( 2004), I saw tons of Black folks travel a good distance to witness another playoff game against my old school's team. There was great enthusiasm and spirit as the bands performed on the field at halftime and in the stands during the game. The depth of the emotional energy was remarkable. The roars, cheers, screams, and boos (of course) captured the inner corners of the hearts of all present on BOTH sides of the field. (Talk about a great game!) This one ended with my old school winning in multiple multiple overtimes. Yet, this great game was summarily defined as being a dismal disappointment and frustrating venture by the fans of the opposing team. They had their self esteem trounced as though the outcome of a high school football game was all that could hold their fragile sense of self worth together. I tried in vain to comfort and support some of these fans after the game when I saw a few of them dining at a nearby restaraunt. I was happy that my team won; but, I was sad that these good people obviously felt terrible. I could not manage to comfort them despite numerous attempts. I even complemented the band ( which was excellent by the way). But, nothing would seem to do the trick. Nevertheless, they were very cordial and respectful of my casual conversation. Eventually, they offered my team best wishes on the next game and hopes that we would "go all the way". There was after all a glimmer of hope/optimism left within them but it was buried deep. The emotional capital which some fans invest in a game can leave them emotionally overdrawn at least 50% of the time! Yet, people try to compensate for this high emotion risk factor by investing 200% of their emotional capital in the game. This means that more than likely one will be 100% emotionally drained at the end of the game no matter what. The point of this article is to point out the downside of overindulgence and overinvestment in a "game" which will likely leave one in deep emotional, psychological, or perhaps even physical debt. The NBA has cracked down on ( punished) several players for the Indiana vs. Detroit brawl in Nov. 2004. It just so happens that many of the players in the NBA are Black folks. Their good deeds and bad deeds reflect upon the image which many people see in Black people as well as the image which many Black people see in themselves. In 2004 the USA Men's Olympic basketball team was beaten multiple times. These defeats ("failures")led many people to conclude that the NBA players are just a bunch of selfish show-boating individuals who don't care anything about anybody but themselves and who do not know how to truly play a team sport. It just so happens that many of the players on the 2004 USA men's Olympic basketball team are Black folks. Kobe Bryant, basketball player with the Lakers, went on trial for rape. Magic Johnson, former player with the Lakers, publicly acknowledged years ago that he is HIV positive. Too many other players ( Black and White) in other sports have endured problems with illegal drugs and illegal performance "enhancing" potions and pills. Many people are playing the wrong game the wrong way. When a person pursues the affections or intimate submission of another person it is called a "game". One has "game" when one can successfully get someone else to do what one wants done to, with or for oneself. The "game" is seductive and is to be seductive. Promiscuity and drug abuse are manifestations of attempts to achieve euphoria without the hassle of following the rules of morality, decency and law. The "game" is to attain euphoria by any means necessary. The sports arena provides another means of achieving euphoria. But, first one must stack the deck to increase the chances that one's side will win. Thus, one basketball player commits a flagrant foul on another in order to assert dominance in the "game". One's manhood, self worth, and salary may be tied up in the outcome of the game. One will fight to protect one's manhood on the court. One will fight to protect one's self worth on the court. One will fight to keep one's job on the court even if he is suspended for fighting with a fan off the court ( or for fighting with a fan on the court as the case may be). The point is that Black people are spending to much monetary capital and emotional energy on games that really don't matter. Now that the 2004 USA men's Olympic basketball team has faltered; and, Black folks are acting up on the courts back home in the U.S. some will wonder why bother putting Black folks in the NBA when we can get well-behaved players from elsewhere ( even China)? The only courts Black folks are good for are the courts of "just us"?!? Black folks are not only playing the wrong game but also playing the wrong game the wrong way. Okay - Bahati now that you have bashed all of the Black folks who've ever played sports or even watched sports, what IS the game that should be played and how should it be played? Well, for starters take note that the most recent Presidential election was relatively close with the State of Ohio seeming to seal the outcome for the Republican candidate. It just so happens that Ohio has high ranking Black Republicans in the State government. It could well be that the contributions of Black Republicans in Ohio helped tip the scales away from the Democrats and over to the Republican side. Black folks do make a difference in the elections be they Republican or Democrat. I would submit that the competition to gain access to the political workings of this country is a game which should be played with utmost skill, care, sweat, and financing. Black people cannot be content to simply sit by ( to borrow an expression from the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan) "as an idle spectator.." Black people should seek and attain seats of political power in this country by operating intelligently and strategically within the bounds of reason and prudence. Black folks should place academics ahead of the seduction of athletic competition. It is much more enjoyable and exhilarating to watch a kid play sports than it is to watch a kid do homework. But, it is the boring game of homework which counts more and scores more points in the long run. The game of athletics with the exception of golf is always a short time endeavor for the participant. But, the mind tends to remain strong for a much longer period of time than the body does. Read one book or chapter of a book for every game that you watch on TV. Go to the library and read for two hours for every sports event which you attend. This formula may apply to young and old alike. Do GOD's work. Society spends millions upon millions of dollars on athletics. ( I do feel that physical fitness is essential. However, the overindulgence in athletic competition is where I find room for improvement.) We can manage to change municipal laws anytime a new stadium "needs" to be built to satisfy our hunger for games and competition. However, we are slow feed those who hunger simply for a nutritional meal and the warmth of human companionship. If we could but give one sorry dollar to the homeless for each dollar we feed to the wealthy stadium owners the world's bank of humane capital would generate dividends of phenomenal proportions. But, it seems that we may be too caught up in the game which doesn't matter to score points in the "game" which does matter. We have about 2 million people in prison in this country. Some of these people will sit in a room watching games on TV while not understanding how to make advances in the "game of life". Or, perhaps for some of them "life" is the game and their "game" is over. Black folks should pray for and/or visit those who are in prison. As I have written elsewhere, we should spend some time writing to, visiting with, praying for, etc. those brothers in prison if we spend anytime looking at brothers on some game on TV. The real game is to help those brothers who seem to be helpless and hopeless and in greater NEED of our attention, emotional capital, guidance, and ministry. Must our capital go only to the wealthy instead of the needy? Clothe the naked, heal or comfort the sick, give sight to the blind, etc. There is plenty of work to do. While one surely needs time for relaxation and regeneration, is that the ONLY time one needs? Does one really need six beers, six sofas, six cars, six gold rings or gold teeth, and six girlfriends and/or significant others? What game are we playing on ourselves? Is the world becoming a better place because of the composite of what we are doing? That is the real question. How many points are we scoring on the spiritual plane to do that which is good and to avoid and/or eliminate that which is bad? Are we even engaged in that game or are we sitting on the bench or in the bleachers or in the parking lot or just chillin' somewhere with some grub and drink and smoke or whatever? Get in the game! The world needs you. I need you. You need you. GOD needs you to score some points in the spiritual plane. What madness causes one brother to foul another brother; a fan to drench a player of a game which the fan proclaims to love; and a player to attack a fan, customer and financial backer of a game which is that player's source of income, fame and notoriety? What insanity! Why married Black man would you risk messing with a bunch of women KNOWING that any one of them can a) get pregnant with a child which you don't intend to take care of b) transmit a disease that can kill you c) accuse you of and/or hold you accountable for rape? Why Black man would you fall into the pit of drug use and promiscuity? Why Black man would you sit on your butt while brothers fail to go to college but proceed to go to jail? Seven years after the Million Man March, I wrote in 2002 that I was still marching. Unbeknownst to me at that time I later learned that it was two Black males who were to stand accused as the DC snipers. Although, the law enforcement officer who was at the forefront of bringing the alleged killers to justice was himself a Black man, the negative image of the Black suspects overshadowed the image of the Black cop. Society may see the Black man more as a criminal than as a cop. Society may see the Black man more as someone who harms instead of one who protects. Black man you have one heck of a lot of work to do. Nine years after the Million Man March we have been faced with more and more bad news about prominent Black men and Black people. Kobe, Michael, and Calvin stand on trial. OJ's name is banned from thought and print. Would be Olympians are banned from competition because of doping. And, Black men can't even grab an Olympic gold medal in basketball. We have played the wrong game; and, we've played it the wrong way. Let's get our houses back in order by putting GOD first. Let's also put academics ahead of athletics. Let's put political participation ahead of entertainment. Let's read, study, grow, strategize, and reflect. Let's avoid overindulgence in eating, drinking, smoking, "playing" and "dating". Let's feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort and heal the sick, give sight to the blind, visit those in prison, and set the captives free! |