Beyond the spectator culture

Catholic New Times, Oct 10, 2004

Pick up a Canadian daily paper these days and you'll find slim pickings in the sports section.

The National Hockey League is closed down, locked out, on strike. It seems that 30 professional hockey teams, 700 highly paid-men and scores of administrators who play at work, in innumerable games in often mysteriously-named cities, are twiddling their muscular thumbs.

And the sportswriters are left, pens blunted. They cover lacrosse, for heaven's sake, and dressage.

The crisis is so serious that even Peter Mansbridge is in on the act, hauling the two American lawyers Bettman and Goodenow before the bar of our anger. How can you do this to us?

Calgarians wax nostalgic about the crowds on the "Red Mile" last year when their beloved Flames brought the community together. Prince Edward Islanders gathered around their sets to cheer on local boy Brad Richards. But a huge--even defining Canadian industry--is now at a standstill.

Is it true that in homes from Bonavista to Victoria, Saturday night yawns empty and dull? Are pizza places noticing a lull? Will beer stores even say how much business is down?

The dislocation extends to the animal kingdom. One of our proofreaders tells us that her two dogs, who have been in the habit of leaving the room in a huff when the ubiquitous theme music for Hockey Night in Canada comes on, now sleep peacefully in the family room.

Cultural upheaval indeed

Don't get us started on the demerits of players vs. the owners, the millionaires vs. the billionaires. Canadian acting icon R.H. Thomson waded into the CBC discussion (Sept. 23) on this topic, pointing out to "union boss" Goodenow that salaries have skyrocketed 500 per cent in a decade, while Canadian workers' salaries have plateaued under globalization. For the final game of the World Cup, seats went at $490.

But wait, one sees emerging signs of hope and new life.

On our street, the hockey nets have been hauled from garages and the kids are out with a tennis ball. Sometimes with Dad and Sis. Friends get invited to leisurely Saturday suppers. The art of conversation is making a comeback even as Don Cherry is mercifully silent. Pickup "Frisbee," called; importantly, "Ultimate", is alive on college campuses. Bicycles appear, sometimes with impressive and complicated strollers and other wheeled add-ons, so that mom and pop can pull baby along.

After the baseball lockout of 1994, many fans found other things to do with their lives. Disgusted by the creeping greed, they drew their line in the sand and then, to their surprise, found there was more life beyond "spectatorship."

Weaned off the celebrity culture, they discovered that a more interactive engagement with others, contributed to their mental, physical and spiritual health. They left Sports World and came alive.

This could happen to many Canadians. They learn that they can quite easily get by without the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Nashville Predators and most of the anonymous players on the other teams. They won't miss boring games, dominated by the defensive trap and the mauling, grabbing and hooking of the last decade. They might start exercising themselves.

Maybe it is a time to remember we are an incarnation people, given a body that is good, and should be cared for as a spiritual discipline.

Philosopher Josef Pieper wrote many years ago that leisure is the basis of culture. Leisure for everyone; sportaholics, workaholics, buy-and-sell alcoholics, TV habitues.

We are all getting a break, not just Brodeur and Sundin. We can reassess what has come to constitute our human recreation and see if it enhances creativity and promotes fitness. We can hope in bigger things than league standings. As big as professional sport is in this country, it is not of ultimate value.