The young people of the 1950s gave us rock 'n' roll. It was alien
to older people who reacted like they were revulsed. The young people of
the 1970s gave us conflict. They engaged on political issues in a way
that was anything but passive.
Today we have the millennials putting their stamp on our culture.
Boomers aren't revulsed but they may be scratching heads.
Millennials have grown up sheltered and are risk-averse. They are ages
9-30, and they might almost seem like that passive race of humans in the
1950s movie "The Time Machine." They believe in the "win-win." They
have faith in conflict resolution.
I remember looking at the University of Minnesota-Morris campus
newspaper in the 1970s, and being almost aghast at the level of conflict
in student government. Student government itself is a curious
institution. I suppose it's a "lab" type of experience for students with
an inclination toward this type of thing. Looking back, I saw a lot of
conflict that seemed much more trouble than it was worth. If it was a
lab it was a dysfunctional lab. I observed those campus newspapers and
would have sworn some of those individuals were at each other's throats.
It was these conflict-oriented boomers who gave the push for the
NFL to become our preeminent sport, starting in about 1972. That was the
year when Democrats were at each other's throats for their national
convention. George McGovern gave his acceptance speech at an ungodly
late hour, such were the slow-moving and rancor-filled machinations of
it all. McGovern is on his deathbed as I write this.
The NFL was a lab of conflict in itself. Was this a wellspring for
its appeal considering the tenor of the times? Boomers were emerging as
the top demographic. The NFL was a stew of drama, danger and conflict.
NFL Films fed us highlights in a way that made it all seem like actual
combat. We rooted for teams we equated with "good." Each game had only
one winner.
We thought little of the tremendous damage these gladiators were
doing to each other's bodies and brains. We would have loved trading
places with Wally Hilgenberg of the Vikings. Today we realize we were
the lucky ones, just watching.
We cheered on linebacker Fred McNeill. McNeill developed dementia
at an unreasonably young age. How many of us have wondered about Alan
Page who is on the Minnesota Supreme Court? He was a lineman at Notre
Dame and then with the Vikings. Does he get up a little nervous in the
morning?
The boomers' favorite Viking teams lost four Super Bowls. Today
those games are dwarfed in significance by the health issues looming
over our once-beloved sport. And now the millennials are progressing
toward middle age with their values that seem inconsistent with
football.
All this dawned on me recently as I was departing from a UMM Cougar
football game. I was on bicycle heading north through the campus. There
was a large assemblage of students in that "hollow" next to the food
service building. If that place doesn't have a name, it should. The
football game wasn't over yet so these students obviously weren't among
the fans. I'm not suggesting they were dissing the Cougars, just that
they had a different priority. And that priority was: playing
"quidditch."
I had to ask a student the name of this game. I put my bike down
and watched a while. I was rather transfixed. Turns out the game comes
from the "Harry Potter" series of books. It's a series associated with
the younger crowd. My generation read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance."
All this interest in the "quidditch" games showed that these young
people were not transfixed by football. You could hear the football P.A.
announcer nearby. But the kids were focused on their exotic game which
perhaps they saw as healthier than football.
Quidditch can be somewhat rough but it doesn't entail the kind of
collisions we see with football. It's considered "semi-contact." Created
by J.K. Rowling, it's played in her world by wizards and witches. Since
we can presume wizards and witches are imaginary, adaptations are
called for in the real world. The real world version of the game is
called "muggle quidditch." UMM students played this with fervor on the
Saturday afternoon when I passed by.
Teams from over 200 colleges around the U.S. are affiliated with
the International Quidditch Association and play tournaments. Such
tournaments are featured at Harry Potter conventions.
A quidditch field is called a "pitch" and it's oval-shaped, 500
feet by 180 feet. We see three hooped goalposts at each end. The
goalposts are at varying heights. There's a spherical "quaffle" ball,
two jet black "bludgers" and a small golden ball called a "snitch." It
seems a world apart from football, and quite refreshing.
I'd assert it's a failure of America's entertainment marketplace
that football has achieved such preeminence. NFL football is allowed to
virtually "rule" at various times in the week. That doesn't seem very
American to me. American creativity and resourcefulness ought to come up
with alternatives to draw viewers and interest. Now, it's as if
everything outside of football just capitulates on weekends.
But football has to feel a little nervous about this. It knows the
millennials are out there in rather substantial numbers with their
passive tastes. People in football are also aware that all entertainment
crazes or booms have their "run' and then tend to fade.
Head injuries in football should have gotten attention long ago but
it's finally happening and it's changing the perception of the game. I wrote last summer that high school associations like the
Minnesota State High School League should try to offer boys a new sport
in addition to football. I suggested volleyball. Cross country isn't a
valid option for boys who are large and heavy.
Seeing quidditch demonstrates that new games are possible. American inventiveness must be tapped.
I'm not sure Australian rules football is an option. Australian
rules football gained lots of attention in the early 1980s when it
filled time on the then-fledgling ESPN. What memories! Boomers became
fascinated by this exotic sport which seemed to defy understanding. "It
looks like they're making up the rules as they go along," a friend of
mine said.
There are two teams of 18 players. The objective is to move the
ball down the field and kick the ball through the goal. But all the
movements in between seem rather random and chaotic. When running, a
player must "intermittently" bounce the ball on the ground. There is no
throwing, nor can you hold the ball. Contact and tackling are very much a
part.
"Aussie Rules" football began in 1859 in Melbourne. The game begins
after the "first siren." The season is March to August which in
Australia is early autumn to late winter.
A lot of us joked about Australian rules football. I remember
Father Nic Dressen here in Morris (Assumption Church) writing that
Eagles baseball was a nice alternative to watching Australian rules
football on ESPN. We watched the Aussie game as a puzzling curiosity.
Today we wax nostalgic about it. Yes there are alternatives to American
football. And we must think harder about those alternatives every day.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment