Metaphor bowl

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				THE
Column Archive				VIRGINIA GAZETTE
				WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA
Metaphor bowl				February 10, 2007

I can’t tell you how glad I am that the Super Bowl is finally over. For weeks now people have been asking me who I thought would win, or whom I wanted to win, and I had no answer. Truth be told, I had no idea who was playing, where they were playing or when they were playing. Then, when I found out that the Colts were one of the teams, I thought it would be nice for them to win, since I’ve always considered Baltimore a first class city.

My problem with football is that its emphasis on aggressiveness is more than remotely reflective of today’s society and the manner in which it settles disputes. It is a game whose objectives involve two opposing armies of bruisers hell-bent on gobbling up territory by ramming, tackling and pummeling each other to the point of submission. And all of this in order for one man in each army to eventually carry a pointy ball into something called the end zone.

The psyche of the game is one of total belligerence and includes repeated attempts to steal the ball from the enemy, preferably in mid-field, so that your team doesn’t have to fight its way through more territory to get to the end zone again. It is a game for bullies who rather uncharacteristically feel no shame in holding hands in what’s called a huddle, frequently pat each other on the behind, do bizarre ballets when they score points, and, if you’re the quarterback, get some Freudian pleasure out of wiggling your fingers in the crotch of the center who’s hiking the ball.

If you think all this sounds familiar, it’s because we might well substitute Iraqi oil for the end zone, the Wren chapel cross for the football and the House of Delegates for the bullies.

No, if we’re going to use some sport as a metaphor for civilized societal behavior, we had best turn our sights away from the giga-gluttony of football to the more thoughtful, pacific game of baseball.

While baseball is a competitive sport, it involves little physical contact. There are no tackling juggernauts, no punches, no tossing or squashing of opposing team members. There are no end zones, but rather only one home plate. It is that which every player hopes to reach by moving methodically around the intervening three bases, and it is only as a result of intense accuracy, skill and daring that he completes his circuit.

Though there is a ball involved, it does not exist for the sake of acquisitive possession or stealth, but rather represents the obstacles that must be overcome to complete one’s mission. While the pitcher willingly yields the ball to the batter, it is up to the batter to summon up enough skill to deal with it in a manner that will allow him to proceed on his course.

Baseball, though it involves teams, is a game that depends heavily on individual mental and physical performance. It is the mind of the pitcher against the mind of the batter, one on one. Psyche against psyche. It is the beauty of a pitcher’s windup and his near balletic delivery of the curve, fastball or slider against the stance of the batter and his ability to deal with what’s thrown to him.

If he’s lucky enough to hit the ball, the infield and outfield move simultaneously, as though choreographed, to deal with it. They bend, stretch, twirl and throw with all the accuracy at their command to get the ball to first base before the runner arrives. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don’t. As in life, there are errors, but there are also expertly executed plays that are delightful to watch.

William & Mary’s baseball team is now coached by Frank Leoni, whose philosophy of baseball is indicative of the positive elements of the game. Coaching what the college deems a “non-revenue” sport, Leoni nevertheless makes the best of 11 scholarships for a roster of 30 players. He feels lucky that six of last year’s pitchers are back and that he’s recruited seven freshman pitchers this year.

Though he looks forward to winning, what lies behind the baseball experience for Leoni is a nurturing of the ability to make good decisions and to emphasize accuracy in a competitive world. Cliches aside, baseball is, from the pitcher’s toss to the shortstop’s peg to first base, a game of inches. There is little room for lapses of mind or body.

Defeat and winning are both part of life’s experience, and the fact that a baseball player faces a new game every day means that there is little room for regret or celebration of the day before.

We can all take pride in the fine young team Leoni has assembled. The professionalism, skill and endurance they exhibit at Plumeri Park throughout the spring is a pleasantly watched educational experience from which we all might benefit.

It certainly is much more indicative of how life should be led than that gruesome adventure we call the Super Bowl.