Read on Twitter
A thing I think about: When I was a soph at a conservative, Catholic, all boys high school I volunteered for measuring chain crew for a really big varsity football game so I could watch from field level. A gym teacher/coach that I'd respected was managing us sideline volunteers.
Pregame he showed us how the chains worked & went over procedure: move only when instructed by the refs, how to do a measurement on the field, etc. But then right at the end he said to me privately that I would be in charge of the stick indicating the original spot of the ball.
And then he shows me how to very subtly use my foot to either move the stick forward a few inches each play when the other team has the ball (extending the distance for a 1st down) or backward a little when we had the ball (making it easier for us to get a 1st down).
"Football is a game of inches and you can play a big part in helping the team. It's homefield advantage." I can't quite name with one word the mix of emotions I felt but they included disappointment, disgust, naivete, disillusionment, and fear of consequences for not going along.
Before that I thought pride in victory came from knowing that you won on merit. I started learning that night that winning for some adults around me was an exercise in marshalling power whether by merit or cheating. Not unrelatedly, I realize now, I quit football within a year.
Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about this incident as I watch Republicans attempt to move the yardsticks illegally, to ratfuck democratic processes, to sow doubt, to abuse homefield advantage, to try to shave off points at the margins. And also from whom we learn these lessons.
If anyone wants to check the story, it would have been Saint Francis HS in Athol Springs NY vs St Ursuline of Youngstown OH, fall of 1997. We lost, because sometimes your deficit is so large you can't even cheat your way out.
