“Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy.”
These are the last words in Football Philosophy, a book by the Brazilian legend Socrates. I was doubly bereft as I read these words. First, because I read them in this obituary for Socrates, who died prematurely aged just 57. Second, because the great Brazilian disagrees with me.
Socrates seems to be saying that to abandon beauty for the sake of mere victory would be sacrilege. Yet, I posted earlier this year about the joy of "winning ugly". Where did I go wrong? At the time, I was writing about India winning at cricket during the World Cup. Was I sliding ingloriously into patriotism, that last refuge of scoundrels?
I could try to rebut the argument. I could wade into how players are characters in a larger drama, whose role is to do what it takes to win, not to step out of character seeking elusive beauty. But it somehow feels wrong, un-beautiful, to debate with someone who scored a goal like this in a World Cup:
Adieu Socrates. Long may your tribe of thoughtful sportsmen thrive.
3 comments:
I check your article about your topics. I found you by mistake but already affected your writing ability.
Thanks Zahirul
Prithvi, I came across your blog and had fun reading many of the posts here!
As for the comment from Socrates, it seemed like he was paraphrasing Keats and then some more. However, I don't think I am aligned with the beauty above victory all the time - to some extent (and at the risk of sounding blasphemous to any Socrates fans out there), it might be biased since he never won the big one. Beauty in sports gives a fleeting moment of entertainment, however, victory is much longer lasting in entertaining the fans. Some of the greatest player's biggest regret have been their inability to win the big ones (to cite Karl Malone, SRT until 2011, Allan Donald… ). And for the ugly versus beautiful discussion - if picking teams, give me Steve Waugh over Mark Waugh any day!
Shashank
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