"You know how the game serves us"

I was mindlessly watching the Olympic Games on TV recently (32 sports and 329 events). I was stunned by an event. However, it wasn't Rachael "Raygun" Gunn's breakdance performance. It was velodrome cycling with fixed gear, no brakes and waylaying on each other. The detail that stunned me was an electric moped. The moped (half bike and half scooter) set the pace for the cyclists competing in the keirin race. The moped went around and around, gradually increasing the speed with each lap, and then it made a sudden exit and the race was on. This triggered a childhood memory. Rollerball is a 1975 dystopian science fiction film. The setting: society is governed by large corporations who controls all information. Not completely unlike today's digital landscape. Rollerball is a tough game with motorcycles, rollerskates and a steel ball. You score by placing the ball in the ball home. The teams are sponsored by the corporations. "Ladies and gentlemen, will you stand please for the playing of our Corporate Hymn." The main character is Jonathan E. He is urged and pressured to retire. His popularity and longevity as a player threaten the underlying idea of the game. Of course, he refuses to step down and retire. This creates a problem for the corporations. "In my opinion, we are confronted here with something of a situation. Otherwise, I would not have presumed to take up your time. Once again, it concerns the case of Jonathan E. We know we don't want anything extraordinary to happen to Jonathan. We've already agreeed on that. No accidents, nothing unnatural. The game was created to demonstrate the futility of individual effort. And the game must do its work. The Energy Corporation has done all it can, and if a champion defeats the meaning for which the game was designed, then he must lose. I hope you agree with my reasoning." [video conference with other corporate executives]. The corporations try different ways to push him out including changing the rules. The game degrades into ultraviolence. In the semi-final, the brutality of the match kills several players and leaves his best friend and teammate in a coma. The final becomes even more savage. There are no penalties, no substitutions, and no time limit in the hope that Jonathan E. will be killed during the game. Jonathan E. scores the only point and is the last man standing. The film ends with Jonathan E. taking a victory lap as the crowd chants his name, first softly, then slowly rising to a roar. The system has been beaten by an individual. And what triggered the memory? A noiseless electric moped is quite different from a roaring motorcycle. But, it's all the same to me.