Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

1-20-91 The Super Bowl teams have been determined. Next week, in the twenty-fifth Super Bowl, the Buffalo Bills will square off against the New York Giants. Everyone thought the San Francisco 49ers would win their third straight Super Bowl this year, but the Giants knocked them off on a last-second field goal. Since the Giants have won a Super Bowl already and the Bills haven’t, I’m rooting for the Bills. While I’m on the subject of sports, I can’t resist a remark about the effect war has—or is thought to have—on sports. No matter what sport you watch on television, the announcers apologize for being involved in something so “trivial”. They say stupid things like this: “In wartime, you realize just how insignificant sporting events are; we pray for the safety of our troops in the Persian Gulf.” My first impulse is cynicism, for the announcers are pandering to the emotions of the audience. They want viewers to say “Aw, that announcer’s such a patriot! I like him”. My second impulse is to reject the claim being made. Is sport insignificant? Surely not; if it were, why would we have it? Why is it such a big part of so many lives? Is sport insignificant compared to war? I’m not sure that it is. War is important, ugly, and tragic, but so is life. Sport, in contrast, is a celebration of life and energy, a manifestation of the human spirit. If we’re going to take sport seriously, as I believe we should, we should take it seriously whether political life is going well or poorly. Otherwise, we become fair-weather fans.