If and When

Sportswriters are just like the rest of us as we try to come to terms with the sea change that is the Coronavirus.  We haven’t been in these parts since 1918-19 or thereabouts.  The Great Influenza killed some 675,000 Americans and ushered in the Jazz Age.  Who knows what will follow in the wake of COVID-19?

 

In his column today, Tribune sportswriter Paul Sullivan offered that, “None of this really matters,” the “none” being sports within the context of a pandemic.  He added that everyone hopes “eventually we’ll be back watching our favorite teams and players doing what they’re paid to do—provide entertainment for the masses.”  Only sports isn’t Hollywood.

 

Oh, the line between the two has blurred since the first time Babe Ruth stepped in front of a camera and tried his hand at acting in the 1920s.  And I’d be willing to bet the house that “March Madness” comes with a script of sorts each and every year.  But here’s the difference.

 

We don’t really care how entertainers prepare for a role, how much weight they put on or take off or how they got those muscles so chiseled (provided they don’t drop dead in or because of the process).  If Sylvester Stallone wants to pretend he got his “Rocky” body without chemical enhancement, fine.  Of course, Stallone isn’t an athlete.

 

If he were, fans would expect him to pass a drug test.  I’d argue the great majority of fans want their athletes to pass any and all drug tests.  Why?  Because sports matter in a way Hollywood never has.  We value honesty and fair play because society depends on it.  We watch athletes try their level best, which also has to be their honest best.  That qualifies them to be heroes, in the way we would like to be heroic ourselves. 

 

Do I want to be like the title character in “Rocky”?  There are worse human beings.  Do I want to be like Sylvester Stallone?  That’s like asking me if I want to be like Mark McGwire, and the answer is, no, in case anyone is asking.

 

The last time baseball came out of a work stoppage, it allowed athletes to pump themselves up until they looked like Captain America or some other Avenger.  How did that work out in the end?  If and when baseball starts up again, fans will be far better served by ballplayers trying their level best, their honest best.

There's something heroic in that.