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Do You Believe in Miracles?

2019-01-29 · letter vlog · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Sports (also: Philosophy & meaning) · mode: Personal essay · tags: self promotion, community lore

John traces his belief in radical hope to watching Boston College's 'Miami Miracle' at seven, says hope is the correct response to the human condition and best shared, and celebrates AFC Wimbledon's 4-2 FA Cup upset of West Ham as proof.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — The 1984 Boston College v Miami game and the 'Miami Miracle' John watched at seven

  • ★★★ On November 23, 1984, seven-year-old John watched Boston College play Miami, rooting for Boston College, and cried when Miami took a seemingly insurmountable late lead. — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ Boston College's quarterback threw a 52-yard pass to his roommate and best friend Gerard Phelan to win in what became the Miami Miracle; John's dad threw him in the air. — 00:00:29 · Mike Green
  • ★★★ John says much of what he has done since has been an attempt to understand, celebrate or recreate that moment, chasing the feeling Al Michaels famously exclaimed. — 00:00:29

00:00:57 — Radical hope: why hope is the correct response, and why it is best shared

  • ★★★ John is very interested in radical hope: the idea that hope is available to all people at all times. — 00:00:57 · hope

    “radical hope, the idea that hope is available to all people at all times”

  • ★★★ John believes in radical hope not from theology or philosophy but because he has seen that even with little cause for hope, hope is the correct response to the human condition, as Flutie and Phelan showed. — 00:00:57 · hope

  • ★★ John knows nothing is miraculous about a completed Hail Mary or the US beating the USSR in hockey: improbabilities usually don't occur but sometimes do; he wants hope, not the supernatural. — 00:01:26
  • ★★★ John wants to be unalone in his hope: nothing beats being in a room or stadium with people whose hope points the same way and who love the same thing. — 00:01:26 · hope
  • ★★ John says that shared hope need not come from sports: book clubs, concerts or Martian rover landings can give it too. — 00:01:26

00:01:55 — AFC Wimbledon's terrible season and 4-2 FA Cup win over West Ham as a lesson in hope

  • ★★ The urge to find and share hope is why John writes books, makes videos, gardens and sponsors AFC Wimbledon, the third-tier English team wearing DFTBA on their shorts. — 00:01:55 · AFC Wimbledon, DFTBA
  • ★★★ John loves AFC Wimbledon because they have shown him again and again that hope is 'the thing with feathers' that never stops at all. — 00:01:55 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ AFC Wimbledon have had a terrible season: last in their division and facing relegation to the fourth tier of English football. — 00:01:55 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ Despite their season, Wimbledon reached the FA Cup fourth round and were drawn against West Ham United. — 00:02:25 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★ West Ham play in the Premier League and are the only football club named in the Harry Potter books. — 00:02:25 · Harry Potter (book series)
  • ★★ Several individual West Ham players earn more per year than AFC Wimbledon's entire annual budget. — 00:02:25 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★★ AFC Wimbledon beat West Ham 4-2: Kwesi Appiah scored in front of the John Green stand, Scott Wagstaff scored twice, and 19-year-old Toby Sibbick scored. — 00:02:54 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ Watching in a basement in Indianapolis, John found himself in tears, grateful to the club that had again shown him the meaning of life. — 00:02:54 · Indianapolis, AFC Wimbledon, meaning of life

  • ★★★ John says it is never wrong to be hopeful, and anyone who says otherwise hasn't watched enough AFC Wimbledon games. — 00:02:54 · hope, AFC Wimbledon

    “It's never wrong to be hopeful, and anyone who tells you otherwise just hasn't watched enough AFC Wimbledon games.”

  • ★★ The FA Cup is down to its final 16 teams, Wimbledon among them; next they face Millwall, a team a division above. — 00:02:54 · AFC Wimbledon

00:03:23 — Millwall next; P.S. on The Anthropocene Reviewed, Life's Library slots and the Dons Trust

  • ★ John says there is no way Wimbledon can win against Millwall, but there was no way they could win the last one either. (playful) — 00:03:23 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ John wrote a lot about Wimbledon and penalty shootouts in the latest episode of The Anthropocene Reviewed; a new episode comes out in two days. — 00:03:23 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast), AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ John tells viewers who missed signing up for the Life's Library book club that a few slots are open now at lifeslibrarybookclub.com. — 00:03:23
  • ★★★ John invites viewers to become part owners of AFC Wimbledon by joining the Dons Trust, which owns the club, for 25 pounds (about $30). — 00:03:23 · AFC Wimbledon

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says John adapted recent vlogbrothers videos into a Washington Post op-ed about his experience quitting social media. — video description
  • ★★ In a comment John says hope must never partner inaction: it is what makes Gerard Phelan run to the end zone; hope demands effort. — creator comment · hope
  • ★ In a comment John says the 4:01 runtime is no punishment: YouTube has added a second since 2007, and by precedent 4:01 videos are not punishable. — creator comment · Four-minute rule, YouTube

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: AFC Wimbledon · Hail Flutie · hope

Also: People: Al Michaels · Doug Flutie · Gerard Phelan · Kwesi Appiah · Mike Green · Scott Wagstaff · Toby Sibbick

Projects: Life's Library · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)

Works: "Hope" is the thing with feathers · Harry Potter (book series)

Organizations: Boston College · Dons Trust · Millwall F.C. · Premier League · University of Miami · West Ham United F.C.

Terms: DFTBA

Concepts: meaning of life

Places: Indianapolis · John Green Stand

Events: FA Cup · Miracle on Ice

Only in the description or credits: Four-minute rule · The Washington Post · YouTube

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