At the close of the Winter Olympics 2010, I offer my top three picks for the most legendary games of international sports.
1. The "Miracle on Ice" carries luminous significance even for me, who grew up south of the Mason-Dixon where ice skating was an exotic pursuit and few knew the difference between a hockey puck and a cow pie.
The 1980 Men's Olympic Hockey match between the United States and the Soviet Union was the "International Hockey story of the 20th century."
The U.S. team of amateur college players was the underdog, by far the youngest squad in the Olympic Games, and the Soviet Union was a formidable foe, a scoring machine that had won every tournament for nearly two decades.
This historic match expressed a direct parallel between two teams and two vastly different societies. The Soviet style of hockey, designed by Russian patriot and Red Army officer Anatoli Tarasov, reflected communist principles. It was fast, offensive, and non-individualistic, with lots of passing. Every team member had to approve a new player in the line-up.
By contrast, Herb Brooks, the U.S. coach, emphasized the strength of the "center" position as a leader and decision-maker for others in the hockey line.
Some called it the Cold War on Ice. Beyond the rink, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were poised on the brink of nuclear warfare, at the height of the arms race. There was unprecedented fear among the public and daily reminders of the nearness of global apocalypse.
At home, the U.S. was reeling from rampant inflation, energy crises, Watergate, Vietnam, and a sense of helpless as fellow citizens were held hostage in Iran.
Going into the final moments of play, the world's Superpowers were deadlocked and fans held their breath. The astonishing U.S. victory that unfolded (4-3) lifted Americans from a decade of despair. Goalie Jim Craig draped his body in the American flag.
It was that rare occasion when an upset in sports is deeply symbolic -- standing for much more than a win in the men's semi-finals. The U.S. triumph over the vaunted Soviets endorsed capitalism over communism, sanctioned competition in the Olympic rink over the contest for nuclear arms, and boosted our nation's self-esteem at a time when it was hemorrhaging.
Events, objects, ideas, and fantasies often acquire some degree of symbolic significance in international gatherings. Symbol-making is, in fact, a favorite imaginative activity of the group mind. It is intimately tied to collective identities such as nation, ethnicity and religion.
2. Another classic example of transcendent sport was in 1971 when China extended a surprise invitation to the American Ping-Pong team for an all-expense paid trip to play in the 31st World Table Tennis Championship. Time magazine called it "The ping heard round the world."
On April 10, nine players, two spouses, and four officials walked across a bridge from Hong Kong to mainland China. The players were the first group of Americans permitted to enter the People's Republic since the Communist takeover.
This act ended the information blockade from the People's Republic in place since 1949. The U.S. also announced plans to remove a 20-year embargo on trade with China. The era of "ping-pong diplomacy" forged a new path in Sino-American relations.
At best, international sport opens communication between nations and soothes group conflict. It redirects or sublimates our basic instincts of aggression and warfare to a higher cultural pursuit. "Sublimation is passion transformed," says psychoanalyst Hans Loewald.
Nowhere can we see this more vividly than in the 1995 World Cup, immortalized in Warner Brother's recent "Invictus." This film tells the tale of the greatest rugby victory in the 200-year history of the sport when South Africa defeated New Zealand with a drop goal in overtime.
3. The 1995 Rugby World Cup, hosted by South Africa, was the most important international event held in that country after the fall of apartheid. President Nelson Mandela seized this unlikely opportunity to found a nation and tame widespread sentiments of racial acrimony. He aimed to redeem his country from what he called the "indignity of being the skunk of the world." (Mandela, inaugural speech, 1994)
The South African team, the Springboks (gazelles), was all white but one (Chester Williams). It was a loathed symbol of racial oppression. Mandela transformed the meaning of the Springboks by identifying himself with them, proudly wearing their green jersey and cap during public appearances.
He visited the team's training camp and told the squad in their own Afrikaans language (which he had learned in prison), that the whole nation was behind them. This disarming leader courted Black communities, too, asking, for example, the citizens of Ezakheni to cheer on the Boks "because they are our kind."
In short, Mandela used sport to activate cross-cultural identifications and rally his countrymen toward a common goal.
When the Springboks won the championship its captain (François Pienaar) declared that the trophy was for all 43 million South Africans.
Wouldn't it be great if diplomacy were more often a sport? One that involved the public as intellectual spectators like the Rugby World Cup in Johannesburg played before capacity crowds at Ellis Park?
Mandela knows something about collective emotion and where to put it. Groups have feelings just like people do. The trick is finding the right outlet for them, one that we can all live with.
The Football (Soccer) World Cup 2010, hosted again by South Africa, is a call for creative diplomacy in June... will we be ready?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRALJyv86eY
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