[Edu] Curriculum and Cooperative games

[Kate Jones]

Don Sheldon wrote:

"On 4/5/07, miyu <xmiyux at gmail.com> wrote:

> This alone runs contrary to much of our culture and is anathema to the
very 
> basis of our sports consumed by the general public.

"Sports, in pure and proper form, are not adversarial.  The true object is
the joy of playing.  Has that theme been culturally subverted? Depends who
you ask.  I think it's too easy to fall into the trap of believing that the
athletes (and their, as you put it, deification) is somehow a symptom of
their own narcissism and drive to prove their superiority.  I would counter
with a belief that that perception is less caused by the athlete's actions
and more by the league managers and other suits behind the action.

"My point: competition, in and of itself, is not bad or wrong or a path to
violence.  Competition, done right, is fun.  Too often, however, it is
conflated with a much deeper opposition.  Once the competition goes beyond
the game, it's not fun anymore."

Don, you nailed it. And it has been conflated. The suits are in it for the
money that comes from fans' frenzy, which occasionally ends in violence in
the stands as the teams' success is transferred to the fans' narcissism. Do
the pros or collegiate teams play only for the joy of playing, or for their
obscene paychecks and the mob mentality of their followers? Ballfields are
gameboards, too, beginning with Little League parents' ambition.


"Boys/men will fight and get over it while girls/women will fight and stay
mad much, much longer."

There are interesting explanations for that, but they would be off-topic.
Thanks for making the point, Don. I'll put it in my blog.

-- Kate