#546 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday January 2)
Good morning,
Happy New Year!
Now that my self-employed slowdown over the past couple of weeks, I’m back to the regularity of frequency! The Musings are going back to SIX DAYS A WEEK!
BOWL GAMES AND COLLEGE SPORTS
College football bowl games have been going on for the past few weeks, all leading toward the biggest games New Years Eve and today (other than the championship game next week). Over the years, I’ve enjoyed the wall-to-wall craziness of great teams, college bands, and silly mascots.
Today is the day of the “big six” New Years Day bowl games. And, indeed, there was a time when the games over the December 31 to January 1 period were the “big games.” There were some 40 bowl games that produced 20 winners. As a result of these games, there were a lot of happy fans. Among these bowl games, there were a handful of marquee games that would produce winners whose fans could lay claim to being “champions.” For weeks or months after the games were played, pundits and fans would analyze each match-up and debate which of the victors actually was the best team in the country.
CHAMPIONSHIPS
A perceived need for crowning a “definitive” definitive champion gave rise a number of years ago to a poll of coaches and commentators “in the know.” As a result of that poll, two teams would be declared the “best” in the nation and they would go head-to-head in a championship game played on New Years Day. Needless to say, with only two teams chosen, there was considerable belly-aching by teams with legitimate claims to appear. In any event, the victor in this game was crowned national champion. Eventually it was determined that a single game could not adequately reflect the national championship. As a result, two semi-final games were added, from which “national championship” contestants would be determined.
That apparently isn’t enough for some, who demand an even more inclusive number of teams. On the drawing board is an expansion to include four quarter-final games to determine the participants in the semifinals (although some suggest as many as 12 teams). The reasoning? There is a sense in America that there can be a single victor—only one team crowned as “the best.” All others, be damned. This “winner take all” philosophy has driven the desire for ever-more playoff games after a grueling season, because “that’s what the fans want,” but, more importantly, that’s what the advertisers want. Baseball also is a victim of this phenomenon. A 162 game season now is played to pick 12 of the 30 teams to play abbreviated series to get to the World Series. It is as if a marathon is run and then is followed by a 50-meter dash.
I oppose the college football championship process for two reasons:
The choice of teams is based upon subjective standards, determined by people who could not possibly have watched all the important games and all of whom bring with them natural biases. Because teams don’t play comparable schedules, comparisons are imprecise. It’s an imperfect system that is rigid in its application.
The world was better off with the imprecision of a number of marquee games that pit historic rivals and regional differences, crowing multiple victors who could lay claim to “being the best.” We were far better off with a bunch of winners and a debate on who really was best—a debate that could go on until the next season (or, in some cases, seemingly forever!). And were we any less in thrall of the competition? We have sacrificed the fun of an informal process loaded with putative champions for a poorly structured system that turns everyone but a single team into losers.
LISTS OF BESTS
Right before year-end, The New York Times asked about people’s “best lists” on a variety of subjects, or any subject. It could be the best book, the best chocolate chip cookie, the best TV episode, even the best toothpaste.
The author described the best thing she baked, the best piece of advice she received, the best seltzer, and the best gardening tip.
Here are some of my bests:
Best chocolate chip cookie. I shared the recipe earlier this year. It’s delish.
Best advice I got. When getting aggravated with someone else’s position or behavior, it’s important to remember that you can’t force a change other people’s actions but you can change your own. Concentrate on how you might change and that may help the other person change.
Best reconnection. The former denizens of Marks Tower at USC.
Most fun sporting event. The baseball playoffs this year.
Best nonfiction book. Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains, by Lucas Bessire. The water tables are declining throughout the world. They are being depleted every day and will take centuries to refill, if ever. There are solutions but power is disproportionately in the hands of profiteers. The story of terrible government policies, agribusiness and indifference that threatens the water supply and resists reduced water usage. Among the many great quotations, “It is no coincidence that the bases for collective action are eroding just as impending planetary crises make the need for them increasingly clear. At a moment of rising hate, inequality and essentialism, hope for a sustainable society lies in precisely the opposite direction.” See, also, the classic Cadillac Desert and/or watch Don’t Look Up.
Best fiction book. It’s a tie: National Book Award winner Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann and Pulitzer prize winning The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family, by Joshua Cohen
Best new habit. Using the nightguard (well, when I remember)
Best new on-line word game. While I might say The New York Times’s Spelling Bee, it predates this year. Therefore, Quordle (thanks, Helen Palmer).
Best medical procedure. I held out for 65 years from major surgery until this year’s back surgery. Success!
Best television. Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman. High quality British spy story. The BBC does it best. Second season has just arrived!
Most important realization. We’re here for a short time; make the best of it.
Best oldies concert. John Fogerty
Have a great day,
Glenn