ONLY A GAME

Saturday morning, “Only A Game” is a radio program that airs from 6:00 to 7:00. You can hear four or five, maybe six stories from the sports domaine. They are not the same stories you get on the local news, ESPN or talk shows. The show is focused on human interest stories that happen within the greater, sports foot print. I  remember one in particular: the reporter went to Belmont Park Race Course in New York City at 2:00 a.m. to see who was there and what they were doing. We met a lady, exercise rider who brought her baby to work. She had a dozen horses to workout, groom and cool down before 10:00 a.m. Her work day began at midnight. Belmont Park provided a staffed nursery for employees who couldn’t get child care in the wee hours. The guy who baked bread and croissants for the next day’s menu was a classical music student, played the violin. The stories were about people and how they sustain, not about horse racing; great story to wake up to.

This morning they focused on the Outback, Bowl Game last week. Mississippi State’s Kylin Hill took a helmet to helmet blow that left him conscious but unable of get up off the ground or walk without assistance. They took him out but on the last play of the game, the Bulldogs needed a score to win and they sent Hill back into the game. The story was a set up for a conversation on how the NCAA exploits student athletes. I was hoping for something light and entertaining but ignoring concussion protocols in the NCAA is both deadly serious and not uncommon. 

So the story wasn’t about Kylin Hill or Mississippi State in particular. It was about the way institutions and governing bodies take advantage of vulnerable subordinates. There ought to be a law and there is a law; that’s why they have lawyers. The best paid lawyers defend powerful, usually guilty powers that be and they do that very well. I’ll not go off on everything I don’t like in our culture, what’s the point? If I miss those kinds of stories I don’t care. I listened to another story this morning of a 40 year-old English football (soccer) player and his teenage son who loved playing virtual, fantasy football. The dad played at the lowest level of European football, on one of the worst teams. But the online fantasy game had data and statistics on every team in Europe. His 13 year-old son discovered the experts had rated his dad 35 on a possible scale of 99 which is awful, worse than awful. How the two reconciled that breech of expectation and reality was great. They started keeping their own detailed records of his performance on passing, takeaways, speed, agility and compared them to high rated, younger players. His numbers indicated he should be rated much higher but the game company wasn’t interested. In the end, he gained respect both with his son as well as his younger team mates. It’s only a game. I like that show except when our favorite-favorite turns out to be sullied by human nature’s dark side. 

I’ve hardened myself to the dark side. I understand it and I can’t change it. I paraphrase King Solomon here, “If you’re lucky, life is difficult but doable and then you die. Somebody else will reap the benefit of your labor but go ahead and work hard, live well and be grateful.” Human nature is to take all you can, however you can (pursue pleasure); then rationalize your own deceit and feel good about it (avoid pain). That is what we (people) do. But buried within that tainted story are many other stories that nurture a softer, sweeter spirit. They all spring from the Golden Rule and a relentless, prevailing doubt about one’s own goodness. Getting up at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, when I need not, is one way I nurture that softer, sweeter spirit. This life, it’s only a game. You can’t possibly win but if you play well, you can be ahead when time runs out.