SPORTS: Pro and Con

A message from Carlos López give the line-up for the session on sports at the WAIS conference, and asks if there should be a commentator. The answer is yes, preferably a devil's advocate. Carlos himself and Leo Weinstein are soccer fan(atic)s, and I ask them to consider the following facts. Swedish lawmaker Lars Gustafsson nominated soccer for the Nobel Peace Prize, insisting that soccer helps international relations, despite the fact that more than a dozen fans were killed in riots at international soccer matches in 2000. I fear for the lives of Carlos and Leo.

Last week at a match between Paris-St. Germain and Turkey, riots broke out, the game was suspended for twenty minutes, and there were many injured. Even cricket is no longer cricket any more, the way it was when I grew up. The great Australian batsman Donald Bradman died in February, and obituaries described how during test games with England, bowlers began to aim the balls at the batsmen's body. Now batsmen were protective armor like that used in that brutal game, American football.

I am disappointed that Carlos has not included in the session my favorite sport, competitive gardening.

Ronald Hilton - 3/20/01