By Nancy Richards Farese
San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 29, 2020
Americans recently witnessed another kind of play - the Super Bowl, as grown men who are paid millions of dollars played football. Certainly, this is the most serious of games -but is it also “play”? In an ever-expanded and reinterpreted definition of play, pro sports is hardly recognizable as play in its truest sense- spontaneous, voluntary, and joyful. Are we even talking about the same thing? This context confusion undermines play’s essential value in our lives. As a society, we should make the same investment and commitment that we devote to commercialized sports - to the art of play. Why? Because today “play” is endangered.