SUPER BOWL

  I don’t hear about it all that much now but there was a time when I played football and then I coached it. Last night was Super Bowl #57 and I did my game-day thing just like I do every game day. Still, stuff happens, things change, the world turns and people move on; or not. I keep track of who wins and loses and I like some teams more than others but I do not watch games. My football experience began with boys playing boy’s games, the joy of running after each other, like playing tag but you get to knock people down. I wanted to win but win or lose, I wanted to play. After an eight year interim with the army and the work force I found college and football again. Our coaches were educators and philosophers. They emphasized preparation. Practice does not make perfect; you play like you practice and anything less than perfect practice just reinforces mistakes and poor play. That was the message I got on the field. Then there was; the better you play the more you get to play and that was everybody’s goal. No matter the score, being on the field was better than sitting next to the water bucket at the end of the bench. I did get stronger and better but so did my teammates and my playing time was limited to late in games when we were winning. That worked out to my satisfaction as we won a lot, we were very good. But I didn’t have to be taught about being part of something bigger and better than anything I could do by myself. I understood that my primary job was helping our best players prepare for game day. 
After a 27 year coaching career the game itself was pretty much the same but the message had changed. Winning had become the only reason to play and coaches that failed there were let go. The message was “WIN” whatever it takes. The philosophy I had been so well schooled with no longer meant anything. Cheap talk comes easy when you have great players and the competition makes you look even better. My last years (3) were working for an old coach like me who I knew, went to the same college I did and still evoked the ‘perfect practice’ model. He went out of his way to develop average kids and give everyone a chance to contribute, to play; and we won a lot. 
I don’t watch football games any more. I can fast-forward through the highlights and see all I want in a few minutes. I will not do sour grapes over where the game has gone in my lifetime. I loved it for a long time but then you move on. I have long lived friends who survived that gauntlet and can’t get it out of their systems but I don’t dwell in that house anymore. 
My home town team won the Super Bowl last night. There is a sea wave of red, white and gold all over town today and I like it when they win. But I do not identify with wannabe heroes whose closets are full of franchise clothing and paint their bodies as if they make a difference in the score, as if the crowd noise wouldn’t be the same without them. Some things are best experienced vicariously but no matter how big your banner of how loud your band of groupies may be, it is not your game, it is a sad example of mistaken identity. It says something about make-believe inclusion that I don’t want to rub off on me. My life is pretty good as it is and I doubt if I start watching grown up men playing boy’s games for the money.