Thanks for this probing, thoughtful reflection, which led me to pose similar questions and to think through the tensions of the moment. I, too, find myself discouraged as a teacher and as a thinker. The ways in which sports and political conflict and violence strike our societies as far more spectacular and influential in some ways than what we do regularly in classrooms or seminar room or online. In the end, though, our praxis and the effects that we produce over the long term will do more for our fellow humans than any goal, however spectacular. Courage, my friend! What you do is precious and resonant because it builds learning and constructs networks of meaning in ways that the spectacle of sport does not. You are a builder, a creator, a thought-leader, a mentor, a shaper.