I Just finished Sonic Boom
The basic premise: The world is getting better… it just won’t feel like it. Globalization is speeding up the rate of change in nearly every aspect of life. Fortunately, these changes are making life better for most people around the world. Unfortunately, the stress that constant change creates is making it hard to recognize that fact.
Per his usual style, Easterbrook writes well and with a fair dose of wit. He is too liberal to be liked by Republicans; he would support universal health care. Likewise, he is too libertarian to be liked by Democrats; I think he would argue most subsidy programs are a waste. This elusiveness is one of the qualities that draws me to him.
Read the book, and when the NFL restarts read the column.
NB – In Sonic Boom, Easterbrook makes the case that team sports, football in particular, make positive contributions to future academic and professional success. He cites things like cooperation, communication, and preparation as qualities encouraged by participating in sports.
All good points that I don’t disagree with, but following his line of reasoning it occurs to me that the pending Sonic Boom may just sow the seeds of football’s demise and soccer’s rise in America. The world is becoming decentralized. Global institutions are largely uncommanded. The rate of change is ever accelerating. In such an environment the ability to improvise and adapt is at least as important as the ability to execute – if not more so.
This describes soccer more than football. Football is a centralized game in which a team of coaches plan extensively and then equip their players to execute the plan to exacting requirements. During the game each play is chosen by the coach and dictated from the sideline. Any mid-game adjustments are devised by the coaching staff and implemented top-down.
Soccer, on the other hand, is essentially an improvisational game. True, coaches scout the competition, devise a game plan, run practices, and set the starting line-up. But once the game starts, there is very little a coach can do to influence the outcome. At the highest levels a coach can substitute only three of the eleven starting players, several of whom are unlikely to speak the same language. (This year, Liverpool FC were coached by a Spaniard and regularly played individuals from 14 nations and three continents.) To be successful, the players must coordinate and organize themselves. They must adapt to a rapidly changing game situation and determine the best route to success without the benefit of huddles and timeouts – all while their opponent is attempting to do the exact same thing! This sounds a lot like the Sonic Boom to me.
