Soul.
What does it mean?
Wikipedia says the following:
“Soul means the immaterial side of a person and sometimes other beings that acts as the maintainer of the senses, mental functions and phenomena, which is often thought of as an independent being and which in many religions is thought to leave the body at death and continue to exist.”
Quite difficult to understand.
The definition continues:
“The view that the material body that senses the outside world and the immaterial consciousness or soul that is aware of the outside world are two different things is called dualism.”
If you’re a fan of Pori Ässie, you don’t need Wikipedia’s help on this matter. You already know what a soul can mean. And then you also know that the “material body” and the soul cannot be separated from each other. You can happily reject that strange idea of dualism. And you can stop reading this comment here if you want, because you know what I’m writing about.
I’m writing about a player that everyone can see that he always has his soul in the game. In sports parlance, this is called a soul player.
Soul player is not found on Wikipedia, so I offer my own view:
“A soul player in team sports is an individual who, regardless of the situation, always does everything for his own team, and whose essence exudes complete presence, care for other players and the game, selfless sacrifice for the common good, unceasing unyieldingness and overflowing love for his own club and the entire sport.”
If a characterization of a soul player like that ever appears on Wikipedia, it’s easy to choose the image for the article. It will be a hockey player Jesse Joensuu.
Of course, there are soul players in the SM league in Joensuu as well as others. (And naturally also about other sports, but this comment is about domestic ice hockey.)
Still, I claim that no player’s importance to his team and the entire club is currently as great as Joensuu’s importance to Ässi.
The captain of the bat shirts is no longer the team’s leading player on the ice, that is, in game terms. Joensuu knows that himself. He is 35 years old, which means he is slowly approaching the retirement age of a hockey player. With more leisurely movement and slower reaction, Joensuu earns a place in the rink with what he does best: playing with the soul.
Rip. Grate. Runno.
Those three freaks are what the fans crave from Joensuu. And Isomäki’s stands get what they want from their hero in every game.
Määreti is certainly far from the soul and its sublimity in some people’s opinion, but Joensuu shows what it means to be involved in the game as a whole person. With every cell, body part, soul. The idea of dualism is impossible when you watch Joensuu play.
Burning desire, unquenchable will, endless faith, putting everything on the line. Joensuu serves as a parade example for anyone or anything. No one can doubt that Joensuu’s “spiritual edge could not last”, because the spiritual and the physical cannot be separated in any way.
Joensuu has saved the Aces this season.
For several years, the Porila club was completely in the wind. A playoff spot was a distant wish of mine. The championship of spring 2013 seemed to be much more than ten years. The demanding cauldron almost had time to abandon theirs.
Then came Joensuu.
When you look at the Ässie player list, it is confusing to say that the team reached the top ten in the SM league. There are several clubs below Pori in the league table, which should be in the playoffs instead of Ässi due to their material.
Champion coach, enjoyed the position of king in Pori Karri Kivi is certainly one significant factor in Isomäki playing playoffs after a five-year break. But without Joensuu, who returned to his home region for this season, the top manager of the dressing room and the fulfiller of the demanding wishes of the fans, further games would have remained a dream for Pada.
The people of Oulu remember what was Lasse Kukkonen meaning for Kärpi. Now the northern big club doesn’t have kukkolassi in the booth and the result is accordingly.
Joensuu will do to Äss what Kukkonen did to Kärpi. Bring your soul to the game. Through that, the club’s values, identity and the credibility of the operation emerge. Without them, we are on a really shaky ground.
I interviewed Joensuu last September, just before the start of the season. He said out loud his biggest goal. It was about winning the supporters back to support the Aces. Joensuu has succeeded in that. In half a year, he has welded the team and the fans together.
Joensuu loves Ässi. You can see it in everything he says or does. The ace captain genuinely cares about the whole club and wants to move it forward.
A soul player is a soul player outside the rink as well. Joensuu has established a future fund, which includes a couple of dozen former and current hockey players from Pori. The purpose of the fund is to support those young hockey players who, for financial reasons, would have to stop playing the sport.
Straightforwardness and honesty also belong to the soul of a pot heart.
A good example of this was a year ago, when Joensuu was the only Joker player who wanted and dared to speak the truth about the sad and dark ending of the KHL story of clown shirts.
When the SC league playoffs start next week, you should turn your eyes in the direction of Joensuu. It is incredibly beautiful to watch when the soul is involved in the game.
PS If that dualism bothered you, I recommend reading, for example Juha Varton or Lauri Rauhalan thoughts on human perception.