To answer avid reader Tod Bolsinger, this was a long weekend. On Saturday, my daughter Heather and I headed to Riverside for the 11 year old girls All Star State softball championships. The result of that game was less than splendid. There is a rule in girls softball that if a team is ahead by more than 10 runs in the 4th inning, the game is mercifully ended; hence the term "mercy", often used as a verb, as in, "we mercied them". We got mercied.
Last night was the second game in the (less than winners) bracket. Something interesting happened in this game. At the field at which we played, there is an interesting tradition of turning off the electronic scoreboard in center field if one team is ahead by what is determined to be "too many" runs. Long story short, the scoreboard was turned off, in the 5th inning - because of the less than stellar performance of the South Pasadena team. One problem for us; our best pitcher took off to Guatemala with her anthropologist professor parents to study monkeys. Good for her. Better exploring the jungles than pitching in 90 degree heat in Riverside.
Now, let me add here that my daughter is a completely happy girl, even after this loss. Perhaps that is because her parents were not so absorbed into this whole sports thing that it rules our lives. Life moves on, and now, at long last, after a month of summer school and thrice (or more) weekly practices, my 11 year old can be, imagine this if you can, a kid. A kid. Swimming in the pool, hanging with friends, even (gasp) watching some Disney Channel (right now, her favorite program is this).
This is a funny culture we live in, where half of a kid's summer is dominated by sports. I am not completely comfortable with it all, especially with an eye on Kingdom things, I wonder if this sports obsession we have is all that good. The way sports affects some families we know is probably not healthy. I have always thought that kids should be kids as long as is possible. The way that our media and culture bombard them to be little adults is frightening, and we need to let our kids grow up at a slower pace if that is at all possible.
Final and somewhat scary thought. Next year, Heather turns 12. At that age, the All Stars can end up in the National Little League Champships! Maybe we will go to Guatemala instead.
5 comments:
Great thoughts Steve and how very true. Kids need to be kids for as long as possible. I still want to be one.
You've done well at raising your kids if your daughter takes the losses so well. I always tried to emphasize to my kids and the ones they played baseball with that first and foremost it should be about having fun...not arguing with the umpire...not getting all depressed when you made a mistake and if you lost, it wasn't the end of the world.
Life skills are learned in many areas including team sports and individual sports, provided a healthy attitude is taught and modelled. Thanks for the reminder of this. And thanks for your example.
And thanks for you too, Tim. There is something wonderfully spiritual about a baseball field on a warm summer night. It would be neat if we could all just have fun, leave our baggage and agendas at the edge of the field. May it be so in life.
Note to Friends of Steve's blog.
Steve's daughter Heather is a completely affable, lovable bundle of energy and fun. I am sure that she played her heart out, hugged her teammates and then got home and did the biggest cannonball in pool imaginable.
Congratulations Heather. Enjoy some the last weeks of summer.
Tod
Note to Steve.
I am sure there is a K in "shellacking" somewhere.
Tod
Or is it Shellaquing?
Dr. Bolsinger:
Cannonball - yes.
All spelling is correct, thank you very much.
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