[Cardinal77]

As I was reading this blog on Memorial Day and thinking about all the great sports movies listed by different members, I started thinking about what makes sports special and why they have such impact on our culture. I may watch too much Sportscenter, but it seems like the whole country, from the President on down is waiting for sports to return, both college and pro. With the death of Kobe Bryant and all the eulogies that followed, along with the Micheal Jordan documentary, 'Last Dance', we've been mezmerized by the glorification of killer instinct in sports, including Tiger Woods as another prime example of the human primordial energy to survive & thrive, to claim victory through the warrior's will to stay alive. In some ways, sports mirror war as the ultimate challenge and expression of Nietzche's 'Will to Power' and Darwin's 'Survival of the Fittest'.We are now waging war on the Corona Virus for the health and good of the country. I've seen most of the movies listed in the blog and there's only one I'd like to add, which I'll name later.Two of the movies mentioned, Ben Hur & Gladiator are outstanding and portray the archetype of the warrior powerfully and brilliantly as well as the brutality it often can lead to, but to me, the Games of the Roman Colosseum hardly qualify as sport, at least in the modern era. Both movies do portray the truth in the maxim, 'Absolute power corrupts, absolutely'. I've lived in the world of sports and the military much of my life and the two cultures overlap greatly. I think the Stanford community has embodied much of the warrior's spirit in its pursuit of outstanding athletics, academics, business/entrepreneurial focus and community/collective values; what William James once termed, "The Moral Equivalent of War". James in fact gave what was in fact his most famous speech on that topic while on Sabbatical at Stanford in 1906, just before the earthquake hit. James is perhaps best known as a Harvard Professor in Philosophy and Psychology and considered the Father of American psychology through his influence and writings, including Stanford's fledgling departments during that sabbatical. During that speech he articulated a grand vision of Stanford's future, which has largely proven true. He foresaw an intense, research focused, individualistic university that would seek to contribute the collective good by harnessing individual drive and competitiveness. The speech was expanded into an essay, titled as above. In it James declared himself a pacifist, willing to wage war on war, but recognizing that the martial virtues of heroism, fidelity, cohesiveness, tenacity, adaptability, inventiveness, dedication, moral conscience, physical health and the vigor that lead to wartime victory, apply to peacetime pursuits as well. He felt that at the time he gave his speech that the 'moral equivalent of war' did not yet exist, as war seemed to be the only force that could discipline a whole community and war would have its way until collective restraints developed at a global level.His speech and essay was considered to be the origin of the idea of organized non-military collective service like the Peace Corps and also became a justification for the growth of sports in America, as a more peaceful and production use of the warrior archetype that lies within the psyche of all humanity, albeit some more than others.

James philosophy of pragmatism and psychology of 'radical empiricism' has impacted our culture on many levels in athletics as well as all human endeavors. One might even say he was the forerunner of the modern sports psychologist. Some of my favorite quotes include:

1.    The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must change our beliefs, let the past slip away, expand our sense of the now and dissolve the fear in our minds.

2.    If you want a quality, act as if you already had it. Success or failur depend more on attitude than upon capacity. What holds attention determines actions. Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does!

3.    Thoughts become perceptions, perceptions become reality. Alter your thoughts, alter your reality.

4.There is a law in psychology that if you form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be, and you keep hold of that picture long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been thinking.

These ideas have become the foundation of sports psycholgy and are applicable to all human endeavor. Today techniques in positive thinking, mantras, creative visualization, hypnosis, biofeedback and neuro-linguistic programming are being used to re-align the conscious and unconscious mental processes into a more creative and effective functionality. Books like 'The Biology of Belief' or 'Molecules of Emotion' help us understand how attitude translates into effective activity.

So many of these great movies are about hope, faith, and belief in self while in the process of overcoming present and past obstacles/ circumstance by hard work and enduring 'til the end, even in the face of insurmountable odds. If I had to pick two of the wonderful movies already mentioned, it would probably be Hoosiers and Hidalgo; the latter being a cross between Lord of the Rings(Viggio Mortenson) and Lawrence of Arabia(Omar Shariff) with a touch of Native American mysticism thrown in for good measure. However I would like to make the case that the movie 'Invictus', which portrays Nelson Mandela's use of sports in general and rugby in particular as a unifying force to heal the wounds of one of the most divided nations on the planet, South Africa. The movie was a true life example of the statement, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".
There are so many wonderful lines and moments in the movie, but I thought I'd share a few for those who haven't seen it.

1.    Picnar:        "I was thinking how a man could spend 30 years in prison then come out and forgive the men who did it to him."
      Mandela:      "Forgiveness liberates the soul, it removes fear."  Then gave a note to the captain of the National Rugby Team which read  . . . . 
                        " I thank whomever the gods may be . . . . . for my unconquerable soul. I am the master of my fate, I am the master of my soul".

2.    Mazebiko:   "So this rugby is a potential political solution?
      Mandela:     "No, it is a human solution."

3.   Mandela:      "Times change, we need to change as well."

4.   Mazibuko:    "You're risking your political capital, you're risking your future as our leader."
      Mandela:     "The day that I am afraid to do that is the day I a no longer fit to lead."

5.                "Rugby is a tough game, almost as rough as politics."

[Cardinal77]

As I was reading this blog on Memorial Day and thinking about all the great sports movies listed by different members, I started thinking about what makes sports special and why they have such impact on our culture. I may watch too much Sportscenter, but it seems like the whole country, from the President on down is waiting for sports to return, both college and pro. With the death of Kobe Bryant and all the eulogies that followed, along with the Micheal Jordan documentary, 'Last Dance', we've been mezmerized by the glorification of killer instinct in sports, including Tiger Woods as another prime example of the human primordial energy to survive & thrive, to claim victory through the warrior's will to stay alive. In some ways, sports mirror war as the ultimate challenge and expression of Nietzche's 'Will to Power' and Darwin's 'Survival of the Fittest'.We are now waging war on the Corona Virus for the health and good of the country. I've seen most of the movies listed in the blog and there's only one I'd like to add, which I'll name later.Two of the movies mentioned, Ben Hur & Gladiator are outstanding and portray the archetype of the warrior powerfully and brilliantly as well as the brutality it often can lead to, but to me, the Games of the Roman Colosseum hardly qualify as sport, at least in the modern era. Both movies do portray the truth in the maxim, 'Absolute power corrupts, absolutely'. I've lived in the world of sports and the military much of my life and the two cultures overlap greatly. I think the Stanford community has embodied much of the warrior's spirit in its pursuit of outstanding athletics, academics, business/entrepreneurial focus and community/collective values; what William James once termed, "The Moral Equivalent of War". James in fact gave what was in fact his most famous speech on that topic while on Sabbatical at Stanford in 1906, just before the earthquake hit. James is perhaps best known as a Harvard Professor in Philosophy and Psychology and considered the Father of American psychology through his influence and writings, including Stanford's fledgling departments during that sabbatical. During that speech he articulated a grand vision of Stanford's future, which has largely proven true. He foresaw an intense, research focused, individualistic university that would seek to contribute the collective good by harnessing individual drive and competitiveness. The speech was expanded into an essay, titled as above. In it James declared himself a pacifist, willing to wage war on war, but recognizing that the martial virtues of heroism, fidelity, cohesiveness, tenacity, adaptability, inventiveness, dedication, moral conscience, physical health and the vigor that lead to wartime victory, apply to peacetime pursuits as well. He felt that at the time he gave his speech that the 'moral equivalent of war' did not yet exist, as war seemed to be the only force that could discipline a whole community and war would have its way until collective restraints developed at a global level.His speech and essay was considered to be the origin of the idea of organized non-military collective service like the Peace Corps and also became a justification for the growth of sports in America, as a more peaceful and production use of the warrior archetype that lies within the psyche of all humanity, albeit some more than others.

James philosophy of pragmatism and psychology of 'radical empiricism' has impacted our culture on many levels in athletics as well as all human endeavors. One might even say he was the forerunner of the modern sports psychologist. Some of my favorite quotes include:

1.    The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must change our beliefs, let the past slip away, expand our sense of the now and dissolve the fear in our minds.

2.    If you want a quality, act as if you already had it. Success or failur depend more on attitude than upon capacity. What holds attention determines actions. Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does!

3.    Thoughts become perceptions, perceptions become reality. Alter your thoughts, alter your reality.

4.There is a law in psychology that if you form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be, and you keep hold of that picture long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been thinking.

These ideas have become the foundation of sports psycholgy and are applicable to all human endeavor. Today techniques in positive thinking, mantras, creative visualization, hypnosis, biofeedback and neuro-linguistic programming are being used to re-align the conscious and unconscious mental processes into a more creative and effective functionality. Books like 'The Biology of Belief' or 'Molecules of Emotion' help us understand how attitude translates into effective activity.

So many of these great movies are about hope, faith, and belief in self while in the process of overcoming present and past obstacles/ circumstance by hard work and enduring 'til the end, even in the face of insurmountable odds. If I had to pick two of the wonderful movies already mentioned, it would probably be Hoosiers and Hidalgo; the latter being a cross between Lord of the Rings(Viggio Mortenson) and Lawrence of Arabia(Omar Shariff) with a touch of Native American mysticism thrown in for good measure. However I would like to make the case that the movie 'Invictus', which portrays Nelson Mandela's use of sports in general and rugby in particular as a unifying force to heal the wounds of one of the most divided nations on the planet, South Africa. The movie was a true life example of the statement, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".
There are so many wonderful lines and moments in the movie, but I thought I'd share a few for those who haven't seen it.

1.    Picnar:        "I was thinking how a man could spend 30 years in prison then come out and forgive the men who did it to him."
      Mandela:      "Forgiveness liberates the soul, it removes fear."  Then gave a note to the captain of the National Rugby Team which read  . . . . 
                        " I thank whomever the gods may be . . . . . for my unconquerable soul. I am the master of my fate, I am the master of my soul".

2.    Mazebiko:   "So this rugby is a potential political solution?
      Mandela:     "No, it is a human solution."

3.   Mandela:      "Times change, we need to change as well."

4.   Mazibuko:    "You're risking your political capital, you're risking your future as our leader."
      Mandela:     "The day that I am afraid to do that is the day I a no longer fit to lead."

5.                "Rugby is a tough game, almost as rough as politics."