Alex Cornell

Sports

I went to a Giants game tonight. It was exceptionally cold. I walked over there from school and went under the Bay Bridge on my way. I stood underneath it for probably a good 15 minutes just staring up at the concrete blocks and steel pillars. The longer I looked, the less I understood how on earth human beings were able to build such a structure. Of course, I have this feeling a fair amount, looking at buildings, cars, heck even clothes, but for some reason, the underside of the Bay Bridge I couldn’t wrap my head around. I also noticed there were a number of security measures beneath the bridge to prevent bomb attacks. This made a lot of sense to me, not so much from a saftey point of view, but more just because I could easily see whoever built the bridge saying “This took forever to build, I don’t want anyone to fuck with this shit.” 

I was also thinking a lot about sports as I watched the game. Every time I watch any sort of sport (especially football), I have this intense desire to play competitively. My high school was way into that type of thing, and it certainly instilled a serious sense of competition in me. The glory achieved on the field looks so amazing and I often find myself wishing I had picked a different career. Then I think about it and realize, of what value are sports in the end? I mean I know they are entertaining etc blah blah whatever. And perhaps they fulfill latent evolutionary desires in humans to fight (i.e compete safely etc) or whatever, doesn’t matter. The bottom line is that nothing is being created. Greatness achieved in sport is, at the end of the day, just that. Sports are just games invented by people that have caught on for whatever reason. There is no actual progress being made. As appealing as professional sports often look to me, I can’t help but think I would feel inadequate as a citizen of the world if my entire life was built around winning some made up game.

Perhaps a bit overboard, but just some thoughts as I watch the game. (Don’t get me wrong, i LOVE sport, I just don’t think I would want to do it professionally. But I WILL beat you in tennis tomorrow if you want to play.)