Hockey: The Root Of All Evil.

It's 7:30 AM and I'm sitting in a cold arena, a coffee in my hand that I shouldn't have - it's hard to think about boycotts this early - and I'm watching 8 year olds play. This week, my son is the goalie. He has let in 2 fairly easy ones and they are down 2 - 0. But I can see that he's starting to wake up, his game is improving. The funny thing is, the same goes for the rest of the team. They have slept walked through the first half of the game, and seem to be waking up in tandem. This isn't unusual, they do this every time there is a 7:00 game.

The other team has played well from the get go. They were awake and skating well right off the top. The problem they have is they only have a 2 goal advantage going into the 2nd half. You see, my sons team is good, and they are about to come on strong.

I don't say they are good to brag, it is, I hope, a neutral comment. They win most of their games, sometimes large. The couple of games they have lost have been close. Today they will tie, but that's a good result when you spot the other guys a two goal lead. No, they are a good team. Not a team loaded with great players, although they have one or two who stand out, but so does every other team in this league. They are well coached to be sure, but they share practices with another team that isn't nearly as good. Coaching only goes so far with 8 year old house leaguers. Their fundamentals are strong and they think on the ice, that's the product of good coaching. But it's the intangibles that make this team good, and coaching at this level just can't provide that.

What this team has is, they think and act as a unit, as a single entity. They wake up at the same time. It doesn't matter who plays goal, he makes a big save when it's needed. It doesn't matter who plays defense, someone will pull a puck off the goal line, or poke the puck away from a player on a breakaway. It doesn't matter who plays forward, someone will score. It's just that kind of team. They are great in the collective.

Watching a game like this, I can't help think how seductive the greatness of the collective is. Led Zeppelin was unbelievable as a group, far exceeding what they were or are capable of individually. The group themselves acknowledged this when they refused to do what so many groups before them had done: replace their drummer. They understood that the collective was what made them special.

The problem with the collective is that you can't predict it, can't control it. Like I said, it's seductive and I can see why societies chose it. Because they see it in a sports team, a band, any group of individuals who come together and create magic, and they think, it can work. We can have a great country, a great life with this. The problem is, it takes one person to not fit in, and the whole is thrown out of whack. And how do you identify that one person? People who run sports franchises forever are trying to find the magic formula, and most will tell you it's rare when it happens. And unpredictable.

But sports people also have an option. If player A isn't fitting in, he can be let go, or traded, or retired or any number of things. Not so in a society. In order for the collective to work, those who drag the collective down must be gotten rid of. And when killing off, or shunning the one person doesn't solve the problem, more people must be treated likewise. Soon, the collective that seemed so full of potential has become totalitarian. And like the greatness that happens when the combination is just right, the opposite can occur. And once you've reached totalitarianism, your opposite from the goal of the collective. Now instead of greatness, you have weakness. Instead of working for the common goal, you are treading water, hoping to not be the next guy against the wall. Again, this happens in sports, where a team that is burdened with trade rumours struggle to not lose, instead of creating wins. It's a sad thing in a hockey team, a tragedy in a society. And it's inevitable in a society without freedom.