Sport Perspective — I Know the Result. I’m Still Watching.

Somebody has already told me who won.

Apparently, this should save me the trouble of watching.

It doesn’t.

Knowing the result answers one question. It leaves several much more interesting ones open.

How did they get there? When did the match change? What did the athlete notice before everybody else noticed it?

A result can fit inside a notification.

The performance usually deserves more space.

The second viewing has different pleasures

When I watch without knowing the outcome, part of my attention is occupied by wanting something to happen.

Come on. Hold it. Please don’t lose it now.

There may be commentary from my sofa that contributes absolutely nothing to the athlete’s performance.

Once I know the result, I can watch differently.

I notice the preparation before the moment everyone remembers. The position that made the next action possible. The apparently ordinary passage that becomes interesting when I know what follows.

Sometimes I discover that I have remembered the spectacular finish and almost none of the work that created it.

That is a good reason to watch again.

You don’t have to practise a sport to become interested in its details

I enjoy asking someone who understands a discipline what they are looking at.

Often, they point out something I would have missed completely.

Where I saw speed, they saw timing. Where I saw an easy action, they saw a difficult choice made early enough to look easy.

Suddenly, I have something new to watch.

That is one of the pleasures of sport: the same performance can become more interesting as your understanding grows.

You can enjoy the excitement immediately and spend years discovering what else was happening.

The scoreboard cannot replay the movement

Of course I care who wins. I compete. I understand the attraction of a result.

But there are performances I want to see even when the suspense has disappeared.

A beautiful sequence does not become less beautiful because I know how it ends.

Neither does a clever decision become less clever.

Sometimes, knowing what is coming makes me appreciate the approach even more.

So yes, you can tell me the score.

I may still need the television for another hour.

You can find more observations on training, competition and the everyday pleasures of sport in Sport Perspective.

Silvia