I don’t watch that many sports. But for some strange reason, I like watching the Canadian Football League (CFL); I probably catch one game a week on TV. I never had any interest in playing this rough game. Just watching. The CFL is a strange league where Canadian cities compete to see who has the best Americans. American football has little interest for me.
Anyone who has ever watched CFL knows the Saskatchewan Roughriders have the best fans ever — of any professional sports team in North America. Even better than the top-notch teams in the NFL or NBA. When the Roughriders are a visiting team anywhere in Canada, half the stands are filled with the green jerseys of the Roughriders. Saskatchewanians seem to be living everywhere in Canada, and when their team comes to town, they use the game as an excuse to show off their provincial nationalism. And when the Roughriders are not a competitive team, the fans still show up in big numbers. Most loyal fans indeed!
On July 24, Toronto Argonauts played the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Regina, Saskatchewan. If the spectators in the stands were asked to vote for the winner, the election would have gone Saskatchewan 33,330 to Toronto 20. The stadium was solid green, showing the visiting team an intimidating crowd!
This year, both teams are playing 500 football. Each team has a small chance of winning the championship in November. And maybe that is what makes the CFL more interesting than the NFL. There are few lopsided games, with most games decided in the last five minutes. The uncertainty of any CFL game is legendary.
This Argo/Roughrider match was another great game. The score was close. The lead changed hands several times. The Argonauts kicked a field goal in the last minute to break a 21–21 tie. Saskatchewan mounted an aggressive and confident offensive drive. The Saskatchewan fans were salivating at the final touchdown. A lot of happiness was on the line.
Trying to score a touchdown in the dying minute means taking a risk to make the big play. This time, risk resulted in a Toronto interception that was run back for a touchdown. The Argonauts won the game on Saskatchewan soil!
Despite the aspirations of 33,330 Saskatchewan fans, they did not get their wish. They were spectators, not really having much effect on the final score. The game was decided by the players, coaches, and referees. The Saskatchewan fans — as many and as great as they truly are — had so little influence on the outcome.
Medium Writers are Spectators
Medium is full of political writers. Some writers are cashing in on depressed readers who relish the upcoming dystopia, which will be blamed on the other side. Other writers feel they can convert a few from the other side to the correct side of the political fence. And other writers believe that their musings will influence the overly ambitious people making political decisions.
How’s that been working for you all?
Scott Tarlo, chief editor of Politically Speaking, has another theory. He says these writers are writing and posting as part of their therapy in these uncertain times. He might be right. But any therapy that does not result in positive change is not effective therapy.
Like the fans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, amateur political writers on Medium also have little influence on the political games they are watching. There was probably a lot of armchair football analysis over Saskatchewan’s loss on July 24, but Saskatchewan still lost. There is always a lot of armchair analysis in the game of politics as well.
Your Therapy?
As an amateur political therapist, I recommend a more positive outlet for our political frustration.
Leave the democratic games to those overly ambitious players — from both the political left and political right — to wage their battles. Let the mainstream media play their game of influencing from the outside. Let the dedicated party workers and donors continue supporting whoever they want. Let the thousands of other activists continue to make the same noise you are making today. Leave all these actors to continue with the roles they were assigned to play. While they still have a purpose to keep democracy somewhat balanced, you just leave them alone. You have more important work to do than join the fray.
Instead of playing the political game of “shouting loudest and longest” like football fans who have no real influence, let’s take a more subdued approach.
Let’s build a new democracy. Let’s make that our contribution to a better world.
Publish on Medium 2022
