A lesson from minerva

In 1783 the Montgolfier brothers successfully experimented with lighter-tha n-air balloon flight. But their remarkable invention eventually turned out to be less useful than expected. Their guiding vision-that one could sail t he heavens much Like sailing the seas-was wrongheaded. Much Like the story of early balloon flight, the telling of any story, such as ours, depends up on having a sensible vision before the facts become intelligible, much less useful. As an illustrative example, it is often argued that the experience of sport is essentially one of leisure and is not of the work world. This vision is challenged by analyzing the possibility that sport is indeed good work. If this is so, then promoting the text of our sport's story as part of the so-called progressive culture of evermore comfort and convenience is a story without much Lift. An alternate vision for our field is to cultiva te the story that the experience of sport is essentially work, hence inconv enient and difficult, but productive and therefore morally uplifting and pe rsonally dignifying.