Hockey is the continuation of politics by other means

War is the continuation of politics by other means.

~ Carl von Clausewitz

Some of you may know that while in the 'depths of despair' (Anne of Green Gables style) following Canada's Federal Election #41, I toyed with the idea of not following politics for four years and instead, following hockey.

I was going to cut out most of my twitter feeds & email subscriptions which deal with political issues, and keep only the few which would tell me when it was time to chain ourselves to supreme court railings in final protest - if it ever came to that.

There was a pretty fatal flaw in my plan. I don't like hockey.

I don't really like sport. I don't mind watching an event once in a while. I can kill an afternoon watching the World Cup final, and we always watch large chunks of the Olympics. It's fun.

But I'm not a sports follower. I can't remember who won what when because I don't really care and I don't think it's terribly important. I can't fathom how some people can memorize obscure statistics, will recount in great detail the results of championships from 20 years ago or more, but they know nothing about their country's history. They'll explain in great detail what constitutes an icing call but don't understand how parliament works and have absolutely no interest; can't even be bothered to vote, and yet engage in 'game rituals' because they truly believe that whether they wear their lucky Tweety bird underwear or not will determine the outcome of the game.

I don't get that.

(Those of you who know how your country is run and know the rules of your fave sport - carry on. I'm proud. I'm glad you have your hobby and your interests and you also take time to read the other sections of the paper.)

People who don't follow sport can get pretty snooty about it and dismiss it as sheer stupidity, or crowd mania. Some suggest that, paraphrasing another political philosopher, sport - rather than religion - is now the opium of the people.

But I have a feeling sport is vital. It taps into what I suspect is a very deep evolutionary need to form a clan, to identify ourselves as one thing, one group as opposed to another. It's shirts versus skins, over and over again.

The male of the species especially, seems to have a strong need to pursue clan identities and prove that allegiance to one clan is superior to allegiance to the other.

If sport keeps us from tribal warfare, from rabid nationalism, from real battles, if it assuages some deep need to do battle in a more or less peaceful way, then I'm all for it. And sport tries to do this very hard.

Did you know the Olympic movement was partly a movement for peace?

in the endeavor to place sport at the service of humanity and thereby to promote peace

If you think back to early 20th C history and consider the colossal wars and destruction, you can see why so many seized on the idea of sport as a way to channel competitiveness, to give people something to stand for & cheer about, in a safe, peaceful way. The youth of the world can meet in friendly competition (the competitions are supposed to be between teams and individuals, not nations - take that you medal counters!) and the hope was that this would diffuse the darker, more dangerous side of the competitive spirit.

So what do you think? Does sport serve that function? Because if sport will hold us back from starting wars, if it channels these energies into safe outlets, then I'm all for it.

However, I'm a washout as a hockey fan. I still have not seen a full game. I'd make an effort to turn it on in my little office and then I'd walk away. When the announcer started to sound a little apoplectic, I'd jump over to see what's happening. Then I'd wander off again. When Don Cherry comes on, I muted the thing altogether. (I think it's possible that Don Cherry takes a fair chunk of the blame for why hockey just didn't take with me....)

For peace though, I'd be willing to make more of an effort; but you know, for me, it's ALL about politics, even if it's sport.