Q & A

Last night, the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in overtime in game three of the Stanley Cup semi-finals. The Golden Knights looked to have the game sewed up, leading 2-1 with less than two minutes to play in regulation. However, the Golden Knights goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury, bobbled a puck behind the goal line, sending it out to the front of the net, where Montreal’s Josh Anderson backhanded the tying goal into the unguarded net. Then in overtime, Anderson once again scored, giving the Canadiens a most improbable victory.

I did not stay around the broadcast to watch the post-game interviews. I hope that Fleury (by all reports a genuinely nice guy) did not have to undergo the inquisition- by-reporter that losers often have to endure. To me, asking athletes after a defeat to fess up their faults and errors is something just faintly short of a Maoist self-criticism punishment.

Mao provides a significant focus on the idea of self-criticism, dedicating a whole chapter of the Little Red Book to the issue. Mao saw "conscientious practice" of self-criticism as a quality that distinguished the Communist Party of China from other parties. Mao championed self-criticism saying "dust will accumulate if a room is not cleaned regularly, our faces will get dirty if they are not washed regularly. Our comrades' minds and our Party's work may also collect dust, and also need sweeping and washing.”*

*

I once had to deal with someone who would introduce criticism with the words: “How could you be so stupid as to . . .?” And who did not pose that as a rhetorical question. I was expected to self-flagellate by answering. At least afterwards I wasn’t sent to work on a pig farm in a distant province.

*

Even in the best of times, the questions asked of athletes are often an outpouring of inanities. One former athlete who is now a media person (and actually usually worth listening to) has the habit of framing questions like this: "John Doe has scored 20 goals this seasons; how has he affected your team?"

I am waiting for the day that Doe’s coach or teammate responds: "Doe is a waste of space. Yeah, he’s scored some goals, but he is a terribly selfish teammate who is hated by the rest of the players."

*

Perhaps the only way that athlete interviews can be enjoyable is for the interviewee to pull a Cristiano Ronaldo. CR7, as he likes to be known, at an interview session before the start of the 2020 European soccer tournament earlier in the week,** disposed of two bottles of Coca-Cola that had been placed alongside the table microphone, preferring "Agua!"

Ronaldo’s action had an immediate effect on the stock market valuation of that tournament sponsor.

The company’s share price dropped from $56.10 to $55.22 almost immediately after Ronaldo’s gesture, a 1.6% dip. The market value of Coca-Cola went from $242bn to $238bn – a drop of $4bn.***

His action almost made me want to root for Portugal. 

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*  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-criticism_(Marxism%E2%80%93Leninism)

**  Postponed from last year.

***  https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jun/16/cristiano-ronaldo-snubs-coca-cola-billions-wiped-off-drink-giants-market-value