Thursday 8 June 2017

The Beauty of a Blue Jersey


Sitting on the fence is the worst kind of crime. It's not simply that you fail to express yourself and, consequently, make something of your life. It's much worse than that: it's unimaginative. And, as Christopher Hitchens wrote in the great Hitch-22, the biggest sin in the world is to be boring.

I've always been bothered by people who claim they don't care who wins the game. It has always felt like a waste of time, of spirit, of human effort. I'm moved to ask, time and time again: so why do it in the first place? Why watch the game? Why beat the purpose in the dullest of ways? 

Take a side. Express an opinion, for Christ's sake, don't hide behind something as shallow as 'well, I'm doing it for the beauty of the game'. The beauty of the game is its competition. The beauty of the game is someone's victory and someone's loss. And if you lose, well, in the long run you will at least be able to say that you gave it all. Which in itself is a top prize. 

Support is a responsibility. Not even to who you support and, perhaps, not even to yourself. Rather, it's a responsibility to yourself as a tiny little kid who entered the room in the middle of a match and decided, for no particular reason at all, that he would support the team in blue jerseys. 

...And cried afterwards, cried beautifully, when the team in blue jerseys lost.