Enjoy the world as it is, not as you would have it be

By Randy Capps

I remember being excited for many reasons when I found out I was going to be a father, and near the top of the list was the idea that I’d have someone with whom to share my love of sports.

I’ve mellowed a bit on that front as I’ve gotten older — but in the spring of 2001, when I wasn’t working at a sporting event, I was watching one on TV.

Of course, I had a son that doesn’t really care for sports beyond how it might intersect with pop culture. Life really is what happens when you’re making other plans.

Sometimes, though, our interests align perfectly.

The movie “Napoleon” will be out later this month, and since he’s my favorite historical figure and Ethan loves movies more than I love sports, at least two members of the household are planning to see it. I like the emperor because he was smart, ambitious, creative and — like all geniuses — a bit mad. Most people are aware that he was a pretty good general, but most don’t know that he wasn’t that short (around 5’6”) and that his set of laws (the Code Civil) is the basis for more than 25 percent of today’s modern governments.

Of course, Napoleon would eventually be undone by his hubris, invading Russia in the summer of 1812 only to watch from the gates of Moscow while the retreating Russian Army set it ablaze. That led to a march home without enough food or winter supplies, and an army that left with 400,000 men came home with about 10 percent of that number.

One wonders what might have happened if Napoleon could have been satisfied with controlling most of Western Europe? Or, instead of trying to remake the world as he would have it, he could have simply stopped and enjoyed the one he had already created?

I didn’t get the son I thought I wanted. I got a talented karaoke singer and movie buff, instead. So, instead of sitting down in front of a football game later this month, we’ll go see if Joaquin Phoenix can pull off playing one of history’s most complex figures.

Now that sounds like fun.