In been decades since I played any sport competitively, yet, what I learned playing baseball in the mid-1960’s in the Hanley Hills Optimist league remain with me.
- Play to win but never denigrate your opponent.
- Play fair.
- Give every game your best effort.
How 20th Century of me.
First example: the Kansas City Chiefs rolling over so the Denver Broncos could make the NFL Playoffs.
Since winning the 2015 season’s Super Bowl the Broncos have gone almost a decade without a playoff appearance. True, it’s no longer rare for management to break-up a winning clubhouse but Denver just fell out of the upper deck.
The Chiefs and horsies play each other twice a year. The teams are based about 600 miles apart, actually neighbors except for Kansas being between them. The red faithful travel to Denver and the orange folk find their way to Arrowhead. So, not a surprise that the NFL schedulers had them playing on the 18th weekend of the season. Perhaps it could have been a decisive game for the AFC West Division championship.
Instead Sunday’s game became a big F^*#-You to the Cincinnati Bengals. Yes, it isn’t uncommon to rest star players in a game which doesn’t improve your standing and KC had gained all it could for the playoffs. But allowing over 30 unanswered points?
Remember that the Chiefs employ Steve Spagnuolo as defensive coordinator, a role which has won him praise most every week on network television. He’s also a former head coach who pushed the Rams to the cellar as the team worked its way out of St. Louis.
The Chief’s staff also includes head coach Andy Reid’s son Britt who needed a pardon from His Accidency, Mike Parson, on a DUI conviction to remain employed.
In other words, the Chiefs know how to play the game (wink, wink). Of course it’s just a coincidence that quarterback Patrick Mahome’s family, other starters and their folks as well as the billionaire Hunts who own the Chiefs are MAGA. What’s throwing a game among friends?
Again, the only one hurt were the Bengals who got aced out of the playoffs by this friendliness.
Second: Donald Trump never saw a rule or law or part of the Constitution he accepted. It’s not just 1/6/21. Note how his legal staff continually attacks a jury verdict, court decisions, authorized investigations as well as wanting to eliminate the 14th Amendment [birthright citizenship], take over Canada and Greenland and Panama, and, propose dozens of other big exceptions to the idea of ‘playing fair.’
And, can anyone argue that Trump’s nominees for much of the federal government are capable or competent? An auctioneer and anti-tax advocate to head IRS? A man who dumps animal heads in Central Park to lead healthcare? How can you give your best effort when you’ve never played the game?
We live in interesting times. Trump Too promises to be a scary ride, alas, not just a game. God save us all.
Glenn Koenen