Sports: The All-American Addiction

I know I am among civilized men because they are fighting so savagely.

—Voltaire

With only a few minutes left in a close game, I stepped to the foul line for a free throw. We were playing North Carolina State in Reynolds Coliseum, their home court in Raleigh. As the official handed me the ball, I noticed the fans behind the basket, veins popping out of their necks, eyes red with rage and bulging from their sockets, screaming at the top of their lungs for me to miss. I was certain that their heads would explode. They not only didn't like me, they absolutely hated me. I thought, “At least they haven't spit on me … yet.” It wouldn't have been the first time I had been spit upon. That had happened on a number of occasions after beating a rival school on their home court while in high school. Running back on defense after hitting the shot, I remember thinking how sad it was that a simple game could evoke so much hatred.

Most discussions of civil society focus on those things that bind a community. Honesty, trust, equality of opportunity, and civic responsibility are all values that contribute to the making of a democratic and civil society. A civil society is built, not upon the

-40-