SPORTS OR WAR?

Victor Bloom MD

Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst

Grosse Pointe Park

The Motor City was all aglow with the fire of victory. The Redwings finally broke through the glass ceiling to the heady heights of a championship match last season. Feelings and hopes were high; defeat and disappointment were possibilities no one wanted to consider. Knee-high in octupi, we craved vindication after decades of desultory losses. The city of Detroit was readying itself to conquer the state of New Jersey. We know what happened. We want to forget that and look forward to another championship season.

What is going on here, sports fans? We have all heard that all is fair in love and war, and that business is war. It is more than mere symbolism--- sports is war. What is war, but an excuse to suspend the rules of civilization? Everything to conquer the foe, to retain or gain territory, to elevate self-esteem, to emerge victorious. Victory over what?

Hockey is one of the fastest, hardest fought, body-contact sports. The hockey stick is a formidable weapon, the puck a flying missle. Fist-fights are de rigeur and missing teeth a tell-tale sign of many grim battles. Helmets are necessary and scars are many. The goalie wears armor to compare with ancient regalia to protect himself against vicious attacks. He fends off encroachments of his territory. He will not let the puck pass through.

In many ways hockey is like soccer; it is a team sport and there must be lightning fast cooperation to elude enemy forces and slide the puck down the oppsing goalie's throat. No holds barred as the drives go back and forth, the fans cheering the home team. What is all the excitement about?

It is said we have an innate drive of aggression and competition. Yet to function in society we must repress our 'killer-instinct'. Anyone who doubts the universal killer instinct has never watched a hockey game. In real war, killing is actual and necessary. In sports we only kill abstractly and symbolically. Hockey fans have the benefit of the perfect outlet for the aggressive and competitive drives. They can scream to their hearts' content; they can raise their fists in defiance. They can shed the controls necessary for corporate and family life. It is a time to let go and let it all hang out, vicariously identifying with the hockey players, who obediently do our bidding. It gives us a feeling of power and glory, of triumph and mastery, to offset our daily frustrations and feelings of inadequacy.

Sadly, sometimes the destructive feelings spill over beyond the stadium or arena. The team wins and the fans go on a rampage. This is not the purpose of sports, to incite feelings which spill over into actual destructiveness. Sports are supposed to vent destructive drives and impulses in a safe and socially acceptable way so that we return home calmed and content. As a society we need to emphasize the proper civilizing role of sports, rather than turn them into a battle against Civilization itself.

The thin veneer of Civilization and the faint voice of Reason? I hope not!