70\u00a0 bar steady\u00a0 29.83\u00a0 0mph NE dew-point 61\u00a0 sunrise 6:18 sunset 8:16\u00a0 Lughnasa<\/p>\n
Full Corn Moon<\/p>\n
There are times when the Olympics seem to drone on and on.\u00a0 Especially gymnastics.\u00a0 It’s hard to remember that the individuals have spent at least four years, in many cases more, preparing for these few seconds.<\/p>\n
There was another addition to the age revolution.\u00a0 A Russian gymnast performing for the German national team, 33, won a silver medal.\u00a0 Something’s going on here.<\/p>\n
Sport and sports develop a strange, distorted look from a distance.\u00a0 Let me show you what I mean.\u00a0 26 miles.\u00a0 Get there as fast as you can following the path we lay out.\u00a0 Grab the other person, twist them.\u00a0 Stay inside the circle at all times.\u00a0 Do this over and over.\u00a0 We’ll decide whether you did it well.\u00a0 Jump in the water.\u00a0 Swim with your arms sweeping forward, together, over and over, for two lengths of the pool.\u00a0 Touch the pad at the end.\u00a0 Run down this path.\u00a0 Dive forward onto your hands, then leap onto this.\u00a0 Twist or turn in the air.\u00a0 Land.\u00a0 Again, we give you points.\u00a0 Take this heavy metal ball.\u00a0 Stand here.\u00a0 However you can, throw it as far you can within this area.\u00a0 Oh, don’t step outside the circle.<\/p>\n
Pull back another level.\u00a0 At age 11 a coach spots a young boy with an unusual physique and dedication.\u00a0 A swimmer.\u00a0 Another, with fast twitch muscles predominant.\u00a0 A Jamaican.\u00a0 Run.\u00a0 Run.\u00a0 Run.\u00a0 100 meters.\u00a0 An Ethiopian.\u00a0 Run. Run. Run. 26 miles.\u00a0 Slow twitch.<\/p>\n
Sport finds human beings who excel in a particular physical activity, then polishes them for a chance to perform against others of similar excellence, all to see who is best.\u00a0 I know this competition gets a lot of ink as a salutary, wonderful concept that “brings out the best in our young people.”\u00a0 Isn’t it the opposite?\u00a0 Doesn’t it lead to a focus on the short term.\u00a0 On winning at all costs.\u00a0 Is it any surprise that doping and cheating of many kinds follows this kind of ethos like a bad scent follows a skunk?<\/p>\n
Sport itself, the kinesthetic intelligence at work, has obvious beauty and requires, like art, years of discipline and study. The competitive aspect of sports, which I enjoy, has a certain doomed inevitability.\u00a0 I don’t know whether the culture of sport has a way of being that would not force competitors, at least some competitors, to choose shortcuts.\u00a0 I don’t think so and that leads to this element of the tragic, especially in an Olympic setting where the tone matters so much.<\/p>\n
Just thinking out loud.\u00a0 This just is, it seems to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
70\u00a0 bar steady\u00a0 29.83\u00a0 0mph NE dew-point 61\u00a0 sunrise 6:18 sunset 8:16\u00a0 Lughnasa Full Corn Moon There are times when the Olympics seem to drone on and on.\u00a0 Especially gymnastics.\u00a0 It’s hard to remember that the individuals have spent at least four years, in many cases more, preparing for these few seconds. There was another … Continue reading The Tragic Element in Sports<\/span>