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As Bagehot counseled, we must not let daylight in…

… upon the magic of big-time university sports. For when we do… oh, when we do…!

And verily it is as Bagehot wrote – for when you pull one kingly thread from the sunny jacket of John Junker, well, the whole fabric of the thing comes apart, don’t you see:

Above all things our royalty is to be reverenced, and if you begin to poke about it you cannot reverence it… Its mystery is its life. We must not let in daylight upon magic…The existence of this secret power is, according to abstract theory, a defect in our constitutional polity, but it is a defect incident to a civilisation such as ours, where august and therefore unknown powers are needed, as well as known and serviceable powers.

This is why I say to you: Let him be. Let his princelings be. Let the Bowl Championship Series be. Its powers are august and therefore unknown; unknown and therefore august. Reverence them.

Margaret Soltan, February 22, 2012 12:14PM
Posted in: sport

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2 Responses to “As Bagehot counseled, we must not let daylight in…”

  1. Daniel S. Goldberg Says:

    A gem, even by your high standards, UD.

  2. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Daniel: Many thanks.

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