Just a Game

Most people know the name Eric Liddell from the film Chariots of Fire, as being the Scottish rugby player-turned Olympic 400 runner who competes for the glory of God. Liddell earned the collective ire of a nation by refusing to participate in a 100 heat that happened to fall on a Sunday. Even in the face of immense pressure, Liddell prioritized his conviction to honor the Christian Sabbath.

In more recent events, the Liddell dynamic has been echoed in fellow Scottish rugby player Euan Murray who declined to participate in today's World Cup contest against Argentina. Widely hailed as the best prop forward in Scotland, Murray's decision had serious implications in what what was largely considered a must-win contest. I'll spare you an exposition in World Cup pool play (you can read here if you want to know more), but the punchline is that a win was important for both sides if they wanted to progress to the quarter-finals.

It is my personal perspective that there is nothing intrinsically holy about Sundays and it wouldn't make me think less of a person to learn that they scheduled some extracurricular activities for themselves on that day. Still, I cannot but admire the resolve of Murray's conviction; he let his faith cost him something. This sort of bravery should be commended.

As it turned out, the Argentinians wound up pulling out the W this morning, putting Scotland in the unenviable position of needing an authoritative victory over the heavily favored pool leader, England. Happy as I am for the Pumas, I feel for the Scots, who are understandably heart-broken at the narrowly-missed opportunities. But, in the immortal words of somebody-or-other, it's just a game.

My favorite way to condescendingly dismiss any musical suggestion is to say, "Yeah, but I like M. Ward's version better."

-Ryan