Luna

Luna Large

For my wonderful blipfriend Spartan, who becomes just ever so slightly crazy under the influence of the moon! She looked beautiful this evening, Luna, rising out of the clouds. A fitting blip as I also watched her set this morning, as was DrMackem it seems. The intervening hours seem to have passed very quickly.

I went to chill for a bit last night, tuned into see what was happening in the Ryder Cup and got caught up in the most amazing sporting drama. I'm not a golfer, nor even a golf fan, but I do enjoy watching the last round of the Majors, and most of all the Ryder Cup. Golf is normally an individual sport but this is one of the very few occasions where players are brought together to play alongside each other, opponents becoming compatriots.

The transformation is amazing. Great players can be consumed by the pressure and become quite ordinary. Relatively ordinary players can be inspired by the occasion and become great. It becomes less about technique and expertise, and more about passion and belief. Last night, the European team built some momentum and rode on such a wave of belief and a sense of destiny.

This was far more than sport. It was the most astonishing human drama. The tension built and the event came down to the result of the final two matches, hanging on the shots of just two men from each side out of a team of twelve. It was a huge burden to carry but in the end it was the lesser men of Europe who held their nerve over the greater experience and stature of the men from the USA. Somehow, against all the odds, they believed that this was their cup to win and win they did. The Americans played as if it was their cup to lose ... and lose indeed they did.

I can't explain why it was important to me, except that through empathy you feel all those same raw emotions that the players are feeling. The better you know the people concerned, the more time you spend watching, the greater the emotional investment and the more important the outcome. As you watch each putt being made you can feel your whole body working to help the ball go in the hole, or stay out. I guess it's that level of involvement that makes sport so literally gripping. I love it ... when my team wins anyway! What a night!!

PS Luna has put all the local blippers under her spell. PaulFS was seduced too!