On opening day of the 2011 Los Angeles Dodgers baseball season, Bryan Stow, a diehard San Francisco Giants fan was involved in an altercation with two rival Dodgers fans. Mr. Stow was beaten so severely he was left clinging to life after suffering traumatic brain injury resulting in a coma. He spent the next 6 months in the hospital and rehab facilities. A father of two children lost significant amount of time with his family, not because of cancer, car accident or even work travel; the loss was due to man’s inhumanity to man, over rival loyalties related to a game.
How is it that tensions, tempers and emotions run so high during something as insignificant as a sporting event? As a kid I had my sports heroes and thus developed my following of favorite teams, but I cannot fathom committing violence in the name of a professional or college sports team; and God save the Little League parent!
American’s capacity for compassion is rivaled only by our penchant for competition. We become overwhelmed with our passion for our affiliations; religious denominations, political parties, racial and ethnic lines, as well as our love of sport. Natural disaster brings out the good in people and it’s demonstrated on the nightly news, on the internet and by smartphone and tablet. Americans immediately throw in to help a neighbor struggling in the wake of wild fires, tornadoes and hurricanes. Yet, there are those who take advantage by looting and assaulting when they can gain financially, materially or by power.
I am wondering why we go out of our way to help people in their desperate hours, but are willing to go toe-to-toe with someone over their child getting adequate playing time on a baseball team! Are we Americans so locked into our own lives that it is more important to make sure we get ours before you get yours? Can it be that the “Me” generation has finally permeated all aspects of today’s day-to-day? I do not know where this selfishness comes from, but it is growing increasingly disturbing. When, exactly, did we go from “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” to “I’m The Man?”
It breaks my heart to see the commercial showing kids in football pads doing an organized routine of the “Gangnam Style” dance. We have become a mediocre world power with an over-inflated sense of self-worth. We have guys celebrating homeruns before the ball has left the yard, defensive players dancing and gyrating like they just won the lotto and all they did was tackle the running back; a job they are paid ridiculous amounts of money to do! That is your job! I don’t run outside and start doing the “Dirty Bird” when I finish writing an entry for this column! This is my callout to America, reach out for your fellow man and do it anonymously and with humility. “Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be grateful. Conceit is self-given; be careful.” – John Wooden.
