Good game, good time

Have a great time at IU," your folks say to you when you leave home for Bloomington to start or re-start your college life. If you are new to the campus, wherever you go, you have probably already heard those remarks many times. Those are nice words to hear and good words to say.\n"Have a good time," people say to you casually yet sincerely. \n"Thanks. I will," you respond to them in a similar way. \nOn the big IU campus, there are many events to attend besides your regular classe such as lectures, concerts, athletic events, and art shows where you can have a good time, sometimes even a great time. My column will be devoted to pursuing the variety of "good times" here in Bloomington. My question: "What exactly is a 'good time?'"\nThis week, varsity sports:\nI believe the quality of the game (how it is played) matters more than the result (winning or losing) to have this elusive "good time." If the game itself is interesting and exciting to such an extent that the spectators cannot help but feel as if they are in the game, suddenly ... they're having a good time.\nBut what creates that level of excitement?\nIn sports that uses balls such as soccer, games are usually seen as competitions between two teams. The players are seen as the active subjects of the game, and the ball as the passive object. \nBut once the game is started, the ball is not often controlled by the players as they wish. \nThe players of one team, when they get the ball, do their best to control it, but at the same time, the players of the other team also attempt to get that ball back by disturbing the former team's ball control. This intense competition between two teams over the ball and their determination and dedication to win the ball, often causes the ball to move in unpredictable directions with unpredictable velocities. It is as if the ball has its own will and power, controlling the players who must respond to its spontaneous movement. When a player succeeds in responding to the chaos, it gains the spectators' attention and respect. This is what we call a "fine play": the moment when the spectators forget which team they have been supporting and applaud the play for its own sake.\nThe ball is not finished just yet. Its fickle nature sometimes gives an underdog team an opportunity to win. That opportunity is called "chance." When the underdog team grasps that chance, sometimes the team starts playing much better than usual, as if it is a different team. If there is a goddess of the victory who controls the unpredictability of the ball, she answers to the team's endurance. This becomes the most precious moment for the underdog team and its fans. It is the moment when the human and the very unhuman meet. We call it "hope." \n So the actual game is not simply the fight between two groups of players but three: 1) one team of players, 2) the other team of players and 3) the ball. When these three protagonists of the game combine, and their competitive interactions are dynamically and dramatically developed on the field, this is the game that we enjoy the most. Many of us love games like this even when our teams lose -- much more so than the games that lack enough action of any one of the above three, regardless of the victor.\nIf I can share that moment of hope with you at the game, that makes my day, even my year. That is my hope. Can you join me?