In this age of technological wonders, where skiing in Arabian deserts and, with a few degrees more due to climate change, we will be allowed to canoe between the islands of what was Alicante, one can practice a sport in any season of the year. Winter or summer sports is an outdated classification. But despite the fact that this statement is radically true, there are sports activities that fit more in certain seasons. For example, hating Christmas is more of a winter sport and beach volleyball is more of a summer. I understand that for many the celebration of Christmas and beach volleyball are not sports. Perhaps we should start by defining what we understand by sport.
Let’s differentiate game and sport. For the game, for example, no specific preparation or training is needed. One does not train to play Candy Crush Saga, for example. Sport can always be understood as a game if pleasure is involved, enjoyment itself, but not all games are sports.
Sport would be a physical and mental activity that, through more or less organized participation, finally has an improvement in your condition, in social relationships or the achievement of objectives at any level. It is essential that the sport is institutionalized through federations or similar, with bodies that regulate the different situations that may occur while we exercise that sport. All these conditions are met by separating, one of the most practiced sports every summer.
Separate, divorce, get out, abandon, escape. For the strict practice of this sport it is important that one of the players tells the other that he wants to break. Silent, prolonged passive-aggressive behavior never kicks off the match. It would be considered a game to stop answering WhatsApp, disappear – it is possible ghosting – or take time. There are scholars who consider this last type of game as a sport, but the majority believes otherwise. Whoever requests a time and that time lasts more than 48 hours, is a way of adulterating an ancestral sport such as separating from your love partner.
We will agree that all sports have a beginning and an end. Separate too. It is a sport of at least two players, although in general, there is always a covered third party that is not usually in the early stages of the match but ends up taking to the field, muddy and confused. If there are four or more athletes, they will be an exception although, generally, the start is one of them telling the other that they want to quit. Anti-dopping control in this sport is very lax. You can play drunk, drugged or blinded by pain.
The casuistry indicates that there are many ways to start the game. There are direct classics like “We have to talk”, “I’m leaving” or “I can’t take you (not one minute) anymore”. There is no strict formula, but the other athlete must clearly and clearly understand that they are leaving him. That is why phrases like “I still love you”, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me”, “It’s not you, it’s me” or “See you later, Mari Carmen” can confuse the opponent who receives the news and not understand that the match It has already begun. There is also the factual abandonment. For example, if you come home and the adversary has packed up his things and taken them away. Or if he has found out that you have a lover and, without explanation, he leaves and leaves you with zero accounts. At that moment, the match is also considered started and you either play the counterattack or ask for a public defender.
The athlete who receives the first verbal attack from which he wants to separate has the right to reply. The exchange of dialectical blows allows reproaches, insults, gas lighting, mortgage payments, crying, lies, threats, minors, pets and second homes. All this without physical violence making an appearance. Otherwise, the game ends and the police and VAR arrive.
In this exchange of questions and answers, there is room for a dialogue or the opposite. The theatrical modality of you listen to me and you answer is allowed, although Gregorian chant or Metallica karaoke is also possible. It is possible that the initial position of the two contestants is immovable but it is possible – and therein the grace of this sport – that, like Shakespearean characters, one or both of them find the truth as they speak. Let them say one thing and the opposite. That they distance more and more. Let someone sink their fist into a wall, leaving it to the discretion of the other contestant whether or not it is a dangerous game.
Almost always, the athlete who hides third parties denies it because he believes that his legitimate reason for wanting to separate is affected by manifest disloyalty. But not saying it, he confuses the other person, who cannot accept being abandoned because they no longer love him, can’t stand him or, simply, he needs to know the truth, generally absent from this fight. Sports combat is much more attractive if there are third parties, because they bring other participants such as friends, family, ex-lovers, children and lawyers.
Important details. One, it is considered a summer sport because it is when you live longer with the person you do not want to continue to be linked to. Divorcing in winter leads you to a depressive or balance Christmas. Two, the party ends with a judicial sentence or when there are different residences and separate lives. It is also understood to be finished if it is decided to continue together for a while or forever. Three, there is no discrimination based on sex, race or age. You can part with whoever you want and whenever you want. In fact, separation matches are possible for 24 hours a day and the necessary days in a row. It is true that classical jurisprudence, given the heteropatriarchy, gave men priority to start, but that is now just a relic of the past. In the same way, the historical heritage has always considered –in a vintage match– the female player to be the best and most reliable player in this sport. These are encounters that men try to avoid –leave or be left–, while women have been waiting for this type of match all their lives and know what to do, with whom and for what.
