I suppose today I’m not much of a fan of any professional sport. I enjoy what’s left of amateur athletics, although it’s become more of a challenge to find true amateurs in any sport. College athletics, at least the big, money-making ones — football, basketball, even baseball — have become increasingly professional. Money rules! If you don’t believe this, just look for the highest paid state employee in your state. In almost every state it’s a football coach at one of the state universities. Yes, indeed, we spend our money on that which is apparently most important to us. To follow that thought any further leads us to places we really don’t want to go.
Another noticeable and regrettable change, in both professional and college athletics, has been the near disappearance of true sportsmanship — you know, an attitude driven by fair play, true respect for one’s opponent, and being gracious when winning or losing. This change seems to have grown out of the idea that winning is everything, again because winning means money, more money for coaches and more potential money for the athletes with professinoal ambitions. It’s also a symptom of the political and societal divisions that now plague our nation. Civility is gone, replaced instead by “in your face” attacks. We see it in politics, in the media, and on the playing field. We have constructed a “new morality” that is essentially amoral. How paradoxically fitting for today’s woke generations.
Given the almost universal enthusiasm for professional and collegiate athletics today, I suppose all this makes me a bit of a contrarian. I won’t deny it, because I often find myself standing on the outside looking in. I also enjoy encountering and listening to other contrarians, even those with whom I disagree, simply because they go against the grain and actually believe strongly in something, strongly enough that they risk all to share their beliefs publicly. But I especially enjoy listening when one of these contrarians speaks his mind graciously and decently without condemning those who attack him for his beliefs. (Reminds me of St. Therese’s “Little Way.”)
Last night I was led to a recent interview of an NBA player named Jonathan Isaac. To be honest, I’d never heard of him because, as I stated above, I’m not an NBA fan and haven’t watched a basketball game in over 30 years. But having started watching the interview, I had to watch it all. Mr. Isaac is a remarkable young man who has decided that his religious faith and the freedoms Americans hold dear far outweigh any fear of a virus. (Okay, Dear Diane just informed me he plays for our “local” NBA team, the Orlando Magic, proving she’s far more tuned in to the real world than I.)
I have received both Moderna shots and, as you have probably guessed, Jonathan Isaac is unvaccinated. But like him I believe that vaccination, particularly against this virus, should be a decision made by each individual. Given my age (77) I considered the shots a wise move. After all, the average age of those who have died from COVID-19 is near the average life expectancy of Americans. Yes, we old folks should probably protect ourselves. But for younger Americans, especially the very young, the death rate from the virus is minuscule. For them the decision becomes a trade-off: Which is worse, known potential vaccine side effects or the effects of contracting the virus? For those younger Americans who have already had the virus, their natural immunity offers more protection than any vaccine. And both the vaccinated and unvaccinated carry the virus and can transmit it to others. Sadly, the bureaucratic CDC and the ubiquitous Dr. Fauci have consistently ignored the proven science of natural immunity in favor of the politically inspired mandates that do little but increase government control over American citizens. Yes, indeed, we live in a modern day Wonderland that even Alice would have trouble navigating.
Anyway, the video is worth watching and certainly worth sharing with the young people in your life. Here’s a link:
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