The philosophy of football

There's a debate going on in France right now on the philosophical and aesthetic value of rugby – they're currently hosting the World Cup. Pres. Sarkozy has turned into an avid fan all of a sudden. (Which seems sensible enough if you're a politician.)

Anyway, reading about this debate made me think of Chomsky, who once claimed that the whole sports culture, or rather the media coverage it gets, is part of an indoctrination system to keep people from getting involved in stuff that really matters and where they might make a change if they weren't busy keeping track of the NFL or whatever.

Obviously, Noam Chomsky was never a sports lover in the first place (I'm guessing), as opposed to myself. But what bugs me is that he doesn't bother to see the point, the good side of the issue. It's quite possible to be actively involved in Changing the World or fighting windmills, real or imagined, AND following Arsenal and Malmö FF at the same time, no? Come on, we're none of us activists ALL the time, are we? It's like saying that going hiking in the mountains over the weekend might be OK if it happens once or twice, but if it turns into a habit you really should think about focusing on something more important.

Or am I missing something here? Am I just rationalising? I do confess to publicly quoting Bill Shankly on the importance of football occasionally… Not really serious, that one, but I still think Albert Camus had a something of a point when he supposedly said "Tout ce que je sais de la morale, je l'ai appris dans le foot." Football is more than an acceptable pastime, it tells us something about life, if we're attentive to it.

Now I'm just waiting for Noam's reply.

S:t Augustine and Jay McInerney

The football game was a disaster. Malmö 0, Trelleborg 0. No fun. The only good thing that happened during the game was that Corinne rang Peter who was sitting next to me to say that she'd found my mobile, which I'd lost tumbling around in the playground with Leo just before going to the football ground. Wasn't too worried about the phone, but losing the phone directory would have been tough.

Went to church today, Corinne led the service and I took care of Leo. Had a good talk with Matt from Sydney, about how we Christians segment our lives and our commitment, as if we believed our faith only had a bearing on certain, well-defined areas in our lives. "Christians shouldn't get involved in politics", e.g., as if there was any area of society which doesn't have to do with politics.

Party in the afternoon – our friend Maria celebrated being ordained as a deacon.

Spent the evening scrutinizing our bookshelves looking for something to illustrate the theme "Myself", for a lesson tomorrow. I wanted autobiographical material, or something fictional but written in the first person, and I came up with I.B. Singer, S:t Augustine, Sylvia Beach, Sue Townsend, Jay McInerney and Swedish novelist Peter Kihlgård. Also decided to throw in a scene from "The Office", the TV show, where Ricky Gervais speaks into the camera describing himself as a manager. Hoping it might lead to a discussion about self-delusion, or at least make people laugh.

Oh, come on…

It can't be all that difficult to keep your blog alive AND have a life outside of cyberspace? Surely not? I'll give it a go again. Must check how to erase my previous posts asap – slightly embarrassing to keep a blog with updates every 18 months or so…

Sunny September Sunday and the wife, Corinne, and our son Leo, are all going to the Hammar's Park playground by the sea (off Malmö, southern Sweden, northern Europe). Leo's meeting his kindie colleague William with mum, Johanna there for picknick.

After that there's the football game, Malmö FF vs local rivals Trelleborg. It hasn't been a fun season for a MFF supporter of more than 30 years, but then again, that's part of the deal. It's supposed to hurt – Nick Hornby describes it spot on in "Fever Pitch" I think.

What else? Oh yes, Simson, the team I play in, won the decisive game in our series last week. We beat Alfa-Laval, 2-1, after a first half where we should have killed the game. But all in all, a well-played, intense game. Funny, there's nothing quite like that feeling of being in a sports team, working hard and finally winning.