Tuesday 22 July 2008

Pythagoras and the Football Tournament

The basic tenet of the Pythagorean philosophy was this:
In this life, there are three kinds of men, just as there are three sorts of people who come to the Olympic games. The lowest class is made up of those who come to buy and sell, the next above them are those who compete. Best of all, however, are those who come simply to look on.
The Football Tournament started last Saturday. On Matchday One, I bought Gatorade. (Yes, I like the blue Gatorade. Yes, I know it looks like kerosene.)

I came on as left winger. Had a rather indifferent game, I might add.

From the sidelines, I watched our girls’ team play. We gave them half-time instructions and outlined strategy. As always, they gave us a patient hearing. As always, they went back on the pitch and played exactly as they wanted.

On Matchday One, therefore, I was by turns a consumer, competitor and spectator. Where does that place me in the Pythagorean scheme of the Universe? Pithy aphorisms are all very well in their way, but they tend to oversimplify things. Maybe our man should have stuck to more universal truths like the square on the hypotenuse.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

matthb said...
My God, man, cut the grass! I can barely see the ball.

Rahul Saha said...
I agree. Went too late to SAI again huh?

matthb said...
I don't know what you mean by "SAI" and a google search brings up a bewildering array of possibilities.

I enjoy reading this blog, however.

Gammafunction said...
hehe...I can see manavi in the pic...well I don't know about football but she sure does pack a punch when it comes to cricket.

Pratiti said...
I loooooove reading your blog! :-) Now I've said that,you will surely agree to bring your birthday roller skates home on Sujaan's birthday so I can try them out??? Please???

Indecision Personified! said...
sroyon, crayon, soreyan, robot, or whatever other name you respond to...... have nothing to say abt the post.. have told you in person... but in other news...."you are soooooo dead !!!"

P.S: - find another third pic... me was satisfied with my 15 mins of fame in the previous post... do not like this particular 15 mins.