I am not the target audience for sports. But I do hear about details, like a quarterback who literally leap frogged over another player. Plus who won. 

 

Such brief details are deceptive. They play into the illusion that an entire event that took hours, and raked in thousands of people and their discretionary income, with numberless human interactions and stories, can be summed up by a pair of words or even two numbers. 

 

A friend was telling me about his love for a good game of pool. He once 

had a billiard table with three inch slate, and a favorite cue. He was pretty good, in fact, at plunking balls in pockets. One time he was at a public table and asked someone whom he knew was very competitive to play. 

 

"But I don't keep score," my friend mentioned. 

 

The other man was affronted. For him, winning was the reason to play, and that could only be determined by points. He reluctantly agreed, but every time a pocket was filled with a ball, he felt empty without the resulting reward of a score. My friend on the other hand enjoyed each well aimed shot, both his own and those of the other player. If pleasure could be calibrated, I suspect he had more fun. 

 

Being the philosopher that he is, he compared this to heaven. There are sports there, and skilled athletes, But the focus is less about competition, and conquest, than about doing your best. 

 

Which is something I can aspire to even before I die.