Ready to Rumble

My favorite clip from the NCAA basketball tournament is commentator Charles Barkley doing a celebratory jig at the end of the men’s championship game. He predicted the North Carolina Tar Heels would win, but when Villanova’s final-second shot claimed victory for the Wildcats, Sir Charles did a high-spirited happy dance. While his daughter is a Villanova fan, it appeared to me that Barkley’s exuberance welled up from his love of the game, not necessarily from his allegiance to any particular team.

I hope someone (besides mom) is telling these hundreds of college basketball players what a terrific run they’ve had, win or lose. It’s a shame that athletes who train for years and years to reach the pinnacle of their careers have to face defeat. I have no idea how sports could be redesigned so that everyone could win – or at least so no one would have to lose, but I feel really bad for the underdogs, those who just can’t make it to the victory circle.

Years ago, we ran Salvation Army youth basketball leagues at locations in Philadelphia and Cleveland. The basketball games were played in traditional fashion, but those victories were augmented by points earned by the kids for Sunday School attendance and scripture memorization. It was conceivable that on-the-court losers could garner extra points to raise their standing in the league. That strategy boosted Sunday School attendance at our church and others in the neighborhood for a few weeks, but when the team with the best record didn’t win the trophy, it definitely created some friction among participants and parents.

The concept of winning and losing permeates our culture far beyond the world of sports, and we learn its lessons early. The lovely Madelyn Simone likes to play board games, and we recently tried out the Dora the Explorer Memory Game. She hadn’t played Memory before, but by our second round, she was arranging the cards so she could control who would be the winner – and it wasn’t me. The experience of playing the game can be fun, but at six, Madelyn has already figured out it’s more fun if you’re the victor.

I get that. It makes sense in basketball and “Go Fish.” But as I checked the results of the recent primary race for county commissioner here in Ashland county, I was frustrated there could only be one winner. James Emmett Justice, Pam Mowry, and John Hadam all seemed well-qualified, with prior service to the community and good ideas for the future of Ashland. Each received 3000+ votes, and Justice won the primary election by only 53 votes out of the 10,000 votes cast. Is that the best way to choose those who will govern us?

That question is huge when we consider the on-going circus of the presidential primaries and the predicted hoopla and maneuverings of the up-coming conventions. In theory, one person, one vote sounds really good, but the long, brutal campaigns, the 24/7 media presence, and the influence of the super-PACs threaten to serve up a bruised and bloodied POTUS on November 8, 2016. Do we really want our national leader to be the last person standing after a fierce battle? Instead of choosing someone with the skill of Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods, the accurate shot placement of Venus and Serena Williams, or the cohesive play of the USA women’s soccer team, we’re witnessing a year-long Royal Rumble, where thirty wrestlers enter the ring. One by one they’re thrown over the top ropes until there is only one survivor. Forget the survival of the fittest – it’s the survival of the luckiest, or the pre-selected, scripted competitor. No wonder The Donald, the WWE Hall of Famer who won the Battle of the Billionaires at WrestleMania 23, is still standing.

Are we learning anything from this election cycle? If the hanging chad debacle of 2000 didn’t wake us up, will the campaign of 2016 force us to look at the process of electing the president of the United States? If we truly want the best person equipped to lead our country, there’s got to be a better way than bellowing, “Let’s get ready to rumble!”