After having stated in my last post that I no longer follow sports like I did in my youth, I'm leading off my second consecutive post with a sports story (the irony here is not lost on me). In the inaugural World Baseball Classic, the team from the good 'ol US of A isn't going to make the Final Four. Our boys insured that outcome by losing to the team from Mexico today.
I realize that some of the more reactionary readers of RT will immediately think, "See. This proves it. This guy is so anti-American. He's happy the home team lost!" If you are thinking this right now, you are partially right. I am rather tickled that the home team lost, but not because they are fellow Americans.
I'm not anti-American; I'm anti-arrogance. And US sports teams have become rather arrogant these days.
One of my all-time favorite sports moments is when the US hockey team defeated the Russians in the 1980 Winter Olympics. Dubbed the "Miracle on Ice", I remember exactly where I was and how I ran around like an idiot whooping and shouting as the final second ticked off.
The reason I was so elated is that the overconfident Russian team -- guys who scoffed at the notion that a bunch of former college players could even skate with them -- had so underestimated the Americans lads that they were beaten soundly.
If the American team had faced off against the Russians another 99 times, the Russians would probably have not lost to us ever again. But that doesn't matter. When it counted most, they DID lose.
American teams are now falling victim to this same air of overconfidence. Both our athletes and the general public have a misguided belief that, even on an off-day, our men and women can defeat any other team playing to their utmost potential. It's as if American teams merely need to go through the motions and that's enough to insure victory.
Well, it hasn't been working out that way lately. When our teams and individual athletes don't put their best foot forward, they tend to lose.
In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu warned against the feelings of arrogance and overconfidence. From a Taoist perspective, it's not a case where either of these sentiments are deemed to be evil or sinful. No, it's far more pragmatic than that. Simply put, arrogance and overconfidence set the stage for defeat.
The Russians proved this point in 1980 and the US baseball team proved it again today. Underestimate your adversary and you overestimate your own prowess. Get too big of a head and it will fall that much harder when it invariably gets knocked off.
I realize that some of the more reactionary readers of RT will immediately think, "See. This proves it. This guy is so anti-American. He's happy the home team lost!" If you are thinking this right now, you are partially right. I am rather tickled that the home team lost, but not because they are fellow Americans.
I'm not anti-American; I'm anti-arrogance. And US sports teams have become rather arrogant these days.
One of my all-time favorite sports moments is when the US hockey team defeated the Russians in the 1980 Winter Olympics. Dubbed the "Miracle on Ice", I remember exactly where I was and how I ran around like an idiot whooping and shouting as the final second ticked off.
The reason I was so elated is that the overconfident Russian team -- guys who scoffed at the notion that a bunch of former college players could even skate with them -- had so underestimated the Americans lads that they were beaten soundly.
If the American team had faced off against the Russians another 99 times, the Russians would probably have not lost to us ever again. But that doesn't matter. When it counted most, they DID lose.
American teams are now falling victim to this same air of overconfidence. Both our athletes and the general public have a misguided belief that, even on an off-day, our men and women can defeat any other team playing to their utmost potential. It's as if American teams merely need to go through the motions and that's enough to insure victory.
Well, it hasn't been working out that way lately. When our teams and individual athletes don't put their best foot forward, they tend to lose.
In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu warned against the feelings of arrogance and overconfidence. From a Taoist perspective, it's not a case where either of these sentiments are deemed to be evil or sinful. No, it's far more pragmatic than that. Simply put, arrogance and overconfidence set the stage for defeat.
The Russians proved this point in 1980 and the US baseball team proved it again today. Underestimate your adversary and you overestimate your own prowess. Get too big of a head and it will fall that much harder when it invariably gets knocked off.
The Art of War also stresses this repeatedly. Arrogance and over-confidence will sabotage you every time.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, brace yourself for the usual suspects to come storming in and ask you why you hate America.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteI was going to say the same thing: it's all in the Art of War.
Even Machiavelli's "Il Principe" states that you should not get overexcited by your own achievement.
I really do appreciate modesty. Don't think your special or anything, you're unique, like everybody else :)
I got into a debate about this very subject while out west last week. It degenerated into the typical "why do you hate America" rhetoric despite my attempts to explain that it was about arrogance, not our country. Frustrating.
ReplyDeleteBeyond all that, I don't understand why any sports fan would want their team to be invincible. To me, the fun is in knowing that losing is a distinct possibility - that in turn makes winning even sweeter.
(On the other hand, being a long suffering Blackhawks fan, a little invincibility would be nice for a change. Just a little...one season's worth, perhaps?)