The Adjusted Normal, 56. Panem Without Circem.

I am absolutely not a sports fan, except maybe for Formula 1 racing and the Boston Red Sox. I don't care who wins the Grand Prix motorcycle season, or which soccer team wins the Spanish Liga or the English Premier League. It really doesn't matter to me if Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal win Wimbledon or any other tennis championship. 

In a way, it's a good thing. I used to follow Formula 1, but, of late, it's impossible. A few years ago, the races were on general television every weekend. Now, they're on the Movistar television platform, which you have to pay for. Some bars and cafés may show it, but not as many as used to do so. Grand Prix motorcycle races are now on Dazn, an online sports channel that is not free. Many bars and cafés don't show these races because they would need to update their televisions and pay yet another invoice. Bye bye Marc Márquez. 

Spanish soccer is now on Movistar television, or Orange television, as well as on streaming services. Premier League is probably on one of those services, as well, but neither the English soccer games, nor the American baseball games were ever televised on open television here, so they are not exactly a loss. I would have liked to watch a ball game now and then, but I'm not such a fan I would pay to see one online. Tennis is also on private television and online platforms. The only way I'm going to see Rafa Nadal is on the news, with a summary of his game. 

With the first codified television channels, the lucrative sports world has gotten even more so. If, once upon a time, all you had to do was turn on the television, and watch the game of the week, now you have to first pay for a television package. Or for online streaming, assuming you have a great internet connection with unlimited data. I remember when a regional team was vying for the championship of the Liga, how every Saturday evening there would barely be any cars passing by. Everyone was either at home or at the local bar watching the game. 

Television, in general, has suffered in quality ever since the platforms have been launched. Quality series have been produced in Spain, and others imported, but they haven't reached the general television channels. They were produced or imported specifically for the private channels. If you pay, you watch, if you don't, you have your choice of Turkish soap operas, reality (?!) shows, gossip shows of people of no interest whatsoever, and some news shows. 

It's just another symptom of how the divide between poor and affluent has grown. Once, it didn't matter if you could afford to pay fifty or sixty euros a month or not, a supermarket worker could comment with a bank executive officer on the previous night's game. Now, even that commonality has been taken away. Sports fans either have to have a nice income, or they can read up about their favorite teams in the various sports newspapers. 

This reminds me of the ancient Romans, where the patrons and the plebeians were socially separated. But even back then, the plebeians had cheap tickets to the circuses at the Colosseum, and plenty of cheap bread. Now, bread is still accessible, but the circuses are acquiring a more exquisite price tag. The question is, how long will the panem without the circem keep the populace happy? 

Life continues.