Spectator Sports and Death

Why have I come to reject spectatorism? Here's why:

Say that my team--the 49ers--needs to move the ball one inch to score the winning touchtown. There's time on the clock for just one more play. I'm feeling all the tension in the world. The players break the huddle and move into position.

I'm breathing hard, but what does any of this have to do with me? I'm not on the field; my ability to block or run or throw or catch won't be tested. I didn't decide on the play nor choose the players to carry out the strategy. I am sitting at home. My "activity" is limited to watching, plus eating and drinking.

All the real work, all the passion, all the joy belongs to the players on the field. Nothing I do, say, think will make any difference as to the outcome. My role is pure passivity.

How different that is from a thousand things I could be engaged in: learning a new tune on my saxophone, sharpening my juggling skills, drawing a cartoon, puzzling out an algebraic equation, figuring out how to stop the drip in my bathtub, planning a vacation, taking my wife's hand. A thousand things? Closer to an infinite number of thing.

To my way of thinking: passivity is death; activity is life. I choose life.