As I write this, I’m dead tired and sick with God knows what. The only thing keeping me up is the semi-final round of Canada vs. Slovakia at the Vancouver Olympics. As you may or may not know, this game will determine who faces off against the U.S. for a gold in men’s hockey.

It’s not the adrenaline that the game gives some that keeps me at bay from heading to my bed, where I really should be. It’s the feeling of being left out: the animosity of missing a goal (which I did, the first of the game) and the huzzah that I share with the rest of Canada when I actually see it happen. It’s the bitter emotion that hits you when the opposing team scores a quick one. What will you be missing out on if you’re not part of it?

People’s obsession with sports entertainment has been around since the Roman Empire, if not before, but I wish to focus on the Roman’s culture specifically. During the grander days of Rome, the ruling oligarchs of the city-state put in place venues like the great Colosseum to distract the citizens from debate and politics. Historians have written about the masters of Rome’s plans to control the masses by this means of entertainment for years to come, be it by chariot races or, my personal favourite, the fighting of gauls (gladiators).

It would become apparent to those who have studied Roman entertainment the similarities between our two societies: we both suffer from this distraction at one time or another. We all have a certain sport or activity that makes us forget about the worries of are lives when we observe it in play.

This begs the question(s): where would we be in society if we had nothing to distract us? Would people be more intrigued in politics? Would this lead to a greater form of “democracy” from the population? Instead of knowing the starting line up for tonight’s game, would we know more about the key propositions proposed in the healthcare bill? Whatever it may be, I’ll still be suffering from the cheers and jeers of hockey as I become assimilated with the masses into being deranged by it, for now.

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