For the sake of the kids and other fans I know I should be sad that the Seahawks lost. They certainly do care a great deal about their team. Yesterday, during the game, we stood outside our house and listened to the houses around us. Normally, our neighborhood is a very quiet place, but yesterday there were perfectly choreographed bouts of screaming. It would so quiet you could hear the breeze blow, and suddenly, bloody murder on all sides. Then, like a window closing, the sound would stop. A few minutes later there would be yelling again. We could not tell a significant difference between joyous and despairing, but they were definitely loud.
Nevertheless, I'm still happy they lost. I can't help being more than a little disgusted at the emphasis placed on sports, and professional sports doubly so. I know people need entertainment, and I can understand the joy of being a part of a movement, but I think it just goes too far. Leaving the huge amounts of wasted money out of it (that's a whole other post) I think football is dangerous on an emotional level as well. The fact that domestic violence spikes on game days says something about the intensity of feeling involved. Does watching violence cause violence? Who knows. However, a culture that encourages rabid behavior (the Pittsburgh police were moving through the city in riot formation) over such a meaningless subject certainly has problems with priorities.
Hooray, then, for the losers! May they lose again and again. May football culture wither and die here, and may we be spared the expense, on all levels, of football fanaticism. A girl can dream can’t she?
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