Is there sportsmanship in the world?
Has the competitive edge cut away what once was so compelling about the sports we love to watch?
A part of me once would have said yes and no, however, it is far more complicated than that.
Any sport deals with two different emotional conditions. One is the
desire to win; the other is the desire to compete. At first these two
categories may seem to be the same; howeve,r to compete is not the same
as to win and to win is not the same as to compete.
The
formation of human desires can be traced back to the animals from which
we evolved. They basically come down to a simple desire to be the
alpha, the top dog, the number one, the best of the best. It comes from
the need to do something that sets you apart from the rest.
It
is that desire that drives us all. In any sport, there are those that
are happy to run with the packs and those who wish to lead the herds.
In Formula One, there are those drivers that will try to win at all
costs, regardless if the cost is in terms of equipment or their own
health. In Extreme Sports, there are those that seek the greater
effect, the louder cheer, the louder roar of support from the crowd.
These are the ones that want to win.
These
are also the people who take no prisoners. If the sporting world, be it
either mainstream or extreme, was made up just of these hard-nosed
competitive people, there would be no sport at all. There would be just
painful moments when we loose to them.
Thankfully, for those
of us that are happy to run with the herd, there are others like us
around- people that just like having a good time.
Motor Racing
used to be fun in the 1950s and 1960s. The drivers did not make the
same amounts of money, but there was never the total lack of sporting
gestures that there is today. Back then, it was considered a fringe
activity or a niche sport. Now it is big business.
Looking
around at my fellow extreme sports fans and sportsmen, I am glad that
although there is a willingness to be the best, in most cases, it is
not mutated into an arrogance that has to be emulated by others to
survive. Mainstream sports are loosing that battle.
I am glad
that the U.S. is full of Extreme Sports, as it is one of the last
places on Earth where you can still find a sportsman willing to be
sporting.
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