Sports

Stoic Warriors 2 — Where Risk, Pain, and Death Are Ignored

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In an earlier blog review of Stoic Warriors – The Ancient Philosophy Behind the Military Mind, I looked at some of the issues facing the American military as society changes its attitude toward individual suffering.

For several years past, I’ve attended the Banff Mountain Film Festival, which is a spectacular assembly of films on mountain subjects — usually relating to outdoor pursuits, natural environments, and exotic cultures. There, I found the same male appetites for adventure, risk, and camaraderie … with many of the same grim consequences of fear, trauma, loss, and sudden death faced by soldiers. But there was a difference. A big one.

The trailer (below) for a recent year of the Banff film festival runs about five minutes. It does contain advertising but the ads are as interesting as the film excerpts for giving a feel for the festival and, by implication, for the prevailing social ethos.

After the jump, my views on the difference …

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Two Years, Two Curses Broken

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Last year, the Boston Red Sox overcame the Curse of the Bambino by beating their archrivals, the New York Yankees, en route to a sweeping victory in the World Series.

This year, I watched the final pitch and tag-out at first base as the Chicago White Sox overcame their 88-year Curse of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson (also known as the Curse of the Black Sox), and won the World Series in a sweep of the Houston Astros.

Next stop: The Chicago Cubs for an attempt to break their nearly century-long curse. The Cubs have not won the World Series since 1908, a drought so long that they’ve even had time to build up another curse inside, the Curse of the Billy Goat.

PS – The Astros were understandably disappointed. It was their first ever trip to the World Series since they were created 44 years ago (the longest any major league baseball team had taken to get to the World Series), and they had overcome a 15-30 start to this season. Their time will come.

PPS – Former President George H. W. Bush, a Texan, was understanbly disappointed when they showed his face in a replay. It looks like he’s gained some weight. I guess he’s been spending too much time with Bill Clinton!

[Cross-posted at Between Worlds]

National Porcine Aviation Festival

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Today, the Boston Red Sox had their triumphal parade from Chestnut Hill to City Hall, then over to Charlestown — and into the river. (They were in the amphibious Duck Boats. They covered another mile or so on the water, cruising between two crowded shores, dodging the sailboats, sculls, and kayaks of their aquatic fans.) Over a million people lined the route to celebrate the first World Series win in 86 years. The players were astonished at the turnout, which was two or three times larger than the crowd that greeted the Patriots after their Super Bowl victory.

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Fabulous Old Cycling Photos

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Enough about the election for a while. Here’s a neat site that’s packed with dramatic photos from European races of the 1930s through 1950s. In those days a lot of roads were unpaved and the riders worked for peanuts.

It’s interesting to compare these ancient mountain images with more modern views (e.g., here and here) of similar areas.