Okay so I’m a sports fan of the Broncos football team, who just last night won the 50th Superbowl! Sometimes I volunteer at the Broncos stadium for a fundraising service that my spiritual group conducts there gathering staff laundry shirts after the games, so I get to see some of the insides of the organization and its supporters and, I can report, the spirit of the Broncos organization is positive and contagiously so! I have never heard a negative remark in over 7 years from staff at the stadium, and the fans are supercharged with the forward looking, goal-oriented energy of the team and its managers and owners.
Last night, watching the Big Game as the Denver Broncos’ “Orange Crush Defense” and its talented Offense as well once again managed to upset a major contender to win the National (World) title, I found myself thinking about how the Broncos team energy embodies the IDEALIST Archetype quite directly, both in individuals and in the collective body of the team. In fact, the amazing collaborative effort of this dynamic team exemplifies the most positive values of the IDEALIST Archetype Ally in us all. It is goal-oriented but also team-oriented. It serves the whole, not just the selfish individual. I noticed in the post-game interviews how every Bronco and Bronco manager or owner interviewed after the game gave credit to others than themselves. The quarterback, Peyton Manning, credited the Defensive players, who themselves credited Manning and the coaches. The coaches credited all the players and the managers and owners, and John Elway, a former Broncos Superbowl quarterback and now a general manager for the team, credited the owner, Pat Bowlen. All realized how the synchrony of the WHOLE allowed each individual to rise to the challenge and perform as they needed to attain, literally, the collective trophy.
On the other side, I saw that as the game progressed, the quarterback of the opposing team grew gradually more and more apparently despondent and withdrawn. Before the game he had paraded about the stadium dressed in gold athletic shoes and a gold Superman costume (cape included!) After the game, he covered his head and walked off the stage after a few short replies to questions. I guess the Broncos brought Kryptonite to this quarterback; here we see if anything the Shadow Idealist: frustrated for not having achieved the Ideal. Well, better luck next time maybe!
images from pixabay.com
Better Endings 