Can a Championship Be a Catharsis From Crisis? theringer.com/2020/6/22/2129…
I think I have a very different conclusion to the idea that sports can add meaning in times like this and my conclusion is more cynical because of watching how teams and leagues have behaved when the world plunged into despair
When things went wrong, these entities had the chance to make material contributions to the lives of fans and workers and most of them chose to be as selfish. They furloughed/laid off workers, they took public money when they didn't have to, they became pure businesses.
When it came to leagues and competitions in general, even when it was clear that games should be suspended, they put the lives of players in danger until it was unsustainable. And the restarts have come with the same idea. Money supersedes everything.
We all know that it's always about money, but sports is one place where we can delude ourselves that there's community, that teams mean more. Even if they are ghoulish entities, the fans can still grant an alternative meaning through their experience and ownership.
And teams have profited greatly from the idea that sports has a material and emotional benefit to society. That it's about family. Something transcendent. That teams are about identity. But when they had a chance to sacrifice to prove these things. Almost all of them bailed.
So now the games have restarted. And even the idea that sports can be a catharsis was a way to hide the pure monetary drive behind it all. Which is fine, but the delusion about what these teams and games mean has been destroyed. At least for me.
Imagine how much these championships and games would mean if these teams provided for their communities and didn't need to be publicly shamed to pay their workers through a pandemic. It's so easy to win people. Yet players as individuals did more than billion dollar businesses.
So maybe for people who have been hell-bent on sports being back, this is all a catharsis. But I've been so disappointed with teams and leagues that more than anything, I just want them to get their money and get out of the way so we can worry about more important things.
