Mothman wrote:
That's an understatement!
You've taught me a new word, Dan. I had never encountered the word thymos until I read your post. Thanks.
Jim, the interesting thing about the faculty of thymos (spiritedness) is that it manifests itself in two very different ways -- megalothymia and isothymia. The former refers to the drive to be superior to others; the latter refers to the drive to make sure that the "self" or the "other" gets its just deserts. Obviously, the former is commonly associated with dictators and lunatics, and you can see why. But we tend to forget about the latter -- and it can manifest itself in an extremely wholesome, beautiful, and socially-invaluable impulse to fight for the "little guy" (which can include oneself, when one is a victim of injustice) or a blessed cause.
As for Sherman, my broader point is that, thanks to a few rants, he is now commonly associated with megalothymia, but from what I can gather, I believe that is only a superficial side of the guy -- one that is associated with the way he psyches himself up to perform on shut-down-corner island. If my sources are correct, he typically manifests his thymos as iso-thymia. And that is a point worth thinking about, because as long as that quality is harnessed sanely (meaning with some degree of self-control), it can produce society's true heroes.
The above explains why some folks are defending Sherman even above the "classy" players who give proper press conferences but don't necessarily break their butts for anyone other than themselves, their teams, and their families. The latter are not doing anything that is reprehensible. But given that we live in a world where injustice is rampant and appears in both blatant and subtle varieties, we must combine class with the impulse to fight for what is right. Martin Luther King, Jr., for example, was a man who did just that. When I compare him, to say, Jackie O (the epitome of class, but a person I hardly associate with the iso-thymos), it's not even close who I would like to celebrate more.
What Sherman needs to do is figure out how to repress his megalathymotic impulse without stifling his thymos generally. He has already correctly recognized that there is no need to repress even the former impulse between the lines of a football field, where it certainly provides some powerful and indeed wholesome fuel. So perhaps he should just simply avoid the immediate post-game interviews and then engage in a little healthy repression when, for example, he goes on shows like the Steven A. Smith/Skip Bayless program. I still say that it was on that program where his immaturity shined the brightest, because he told Bayless that he (Sherman) was simply a better person than Bayless, and that is a statement that -- in my opinion -- one human being should never say to another human beings simply because he doesn't like what the other guy is saying. After all, no matter how thymotic you are, you must never forget that humility is a virtue.
Sorry -- I'll leave philosophy mode and go back to cheering on Nadal over Federer.