Soccer is easily the most popular sport in the world, both in terms of players and viewership. And possibly the only sport today that has remained indifferent to technological advances, because success continues to be determined by such elementary considerations as physical stamina, skill and teamwork. The sheer thrills and rushes of adrenalin offered by the game are unmatched. Fortunately or not, soccer is no longer a game but a national obsession as highlighted by the events following the world cup qualifier between Ireland and France.
After a 1-1 draw, France managed to scrape through in extra time with a golden goal set up by Thierry Henry, one of the game’s leading strikers. However, Henry used his arm to control the ball, which went unnoticed by the referee. The Irish were devastated, and to lose because of a refereeing error was too much to digest. The team protested the result and wanted a replay, which is understandable. What came as a surprise was the call for a replay from the Irish Prime Minister himself! And he even brought up the matter with Mr. Sarkozy on the sidelines of an EU meeting!! Now, Irish fans are protesting outside the French embassy.
My point is beyond how to deal with refereeing errors and the dying element of “sportsman spirit”. I find it incredible that an entire nation can take the result of a game so seriously. We have seen it happen in India too every time Sachin gets out on a dubious LBW decision, and more so if we go on to lose the game, which is often the case. Why are we unable to see these events as part of the game and move on? After all, India losing matches has no direct impact on our lives. If anything, we will stop following cricket and put our time to better use. Technically, even players should not bother much for they are rarely paid on the basis on the result (unless in a tournament or in a qualifier such as this where they lose out on games). But in a bilateral series such as the Ind-SL one currently underway, how does the result matter?
The answer probably lies in the structure of our brain, which has three components: the reptilian brain, limbic brain and neocortex. The reptilian brain is instinctive and reacts immediately to stimuli without thinking, which makes reflexes possible. On the flip side, it also leads us to automatically react without thinking, and probably explains the current Irish rage. We get attached to our team and become one with it. So when the team loses, we lose. But before we can step back and analyze, our reptilian brain has perceived this as a threat and forced us to respond. Once you make a move based on gut, it is nearly impossible to let things go and reconcile with reality. Instead, we end up with rationalizing and justifying our stance.
The trick, of course, is to suppress the reptilian instincts and let the limbic brain and neocortex take over. The limbic brain processes emotions whereas the neocortex is responsible for reasoning and thinking. Apparently, studies show that our neocortex is severely underutilized. There are ways to address this, some of which I learned in the MCC and AMCC courses at IIM-A, but more on that later.
