How does this song relate to sports? Well, Lennon’s focus is about living in peace by being tolerant of others and accepting different philosophies and environments that most of us have inherited. There are connections and bias that have been passed down to us at birth, such as religion, ethnical influence and nationalism. These characteristics develop bias in people.
Out of these hand-me-down theories and concepts can come some aspersions of disrespect and even feelings of hate. A good example is in sports. Follow a team and notice how rival fans act toward each other.
Take a look at the violent incidents in athletics that have been going on in our nation. There was a shooting in California, about two weeks ago, during a t-ball game. Thank goodness no one was killed or severely hurt. No kidding…t-ball.
A parent shot another parent over a disputed call during a game between 5-year-olds. Who needs a handgun at a t-ball game?
Just three weeks ago, outside of Salt Lake City, Utah, a man who was refereeing a soccer game was struck in the face by a player who disagreed with a yellow card call. A day later the referee died from complications from his head injury. The “killer” was 17 years old.
Just a couple of years ago in the Midwest, parents of opposing high school hockey teams became argumentative and one parent was so out of control that he started beating on the other. The beating was so brutal that the victim was actually beaten to death. The perpetrator/killer is now spending the next 25 years in prison.
Is winning that important that someone is willing to kill for it?
As a coach, I have seen people act out of character over a game. To make matters worse, there’s the foolishness of being disrespectful to opponents, players, officials, coaches and even sometimes to the team or players that they’re supposedly supporting.
A former student of mine, who is now a parent, told me in disgust about an incident that occurred during a biddy basketball game.
She said the coach of an opposing team that her 9-year-old was playing against was yelling at his players to aggressively push and rough up members of her child’s team.
Why? Oh, I know, win at all cost! These programs are designed to be learning experiences for the youngsters, a time to learn to play the game, have fun with organized recreation and a means to develop comradery all at an impressionable age.
My motive for using Lennon’s song in this article is because it has an obvious analogy to life and correlation to sports as a metaphor to life.
Lennon’s words are a message of living within a civil environment, and in the truth of his words he says, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”
People who love sports and have a need to be part of winning, need to accept and understand that with winning comes losing and that will never change. In the end, it’s just a game. Disrespecting others for not being on the same page as you can become a scenario of one’s life.
After all, sports are a form of entertainment. That’s nothing “to live or die for.”
