Peace Out
I just received an invitation to our annual “sibling exercise evening.” Since we have only done this once and because no one was hurt, maimed or scarred we will try again. No doubt that watching the Summer Olympics has somewhat stirred our enthusiasm and brought to the surface the historical lack of competitive sport among the girls of this family but sometimes one must take cues from available sources. The “catch 22” of it all has to be that had we all been a little more participatory and less observatory over the years we would be far less inclined to put our lives and limbs in jeopardy at this stage of the game. Mandatory physical education was born in the sixties just about the time most of us were entering adulthood and the rest of us were still playing street games. Women and sports have always been around but never really taken seriously until we were past our prime (which back then was about 18 years old.) Ironically, it wasn't long before technology sucked the kids of the nation off the streets into their living rooms glued to television, followed by Nintendo and eventually computers. Who would have guessed back then that there would ever be a 24 hour sports station on television and radio let alone hundreds or thousands of them? Not to mention newspaper sports sections and blogs that outweigh and outnumber business, entertainment and local news stories.
Sports (and exercise) IS big business...so much so that society can not function without it. If we are not participating in a sport, we are watching it, reading about it, talking about it or betting on it. The stakes are so high that some athletes risk their lives and integrity to win at any cost. College and Professional coaches are paid more than professors, scientists and politicians and athletes earn enormous bucks to perform (or not.) If you want a great seat at the new Mets Stadium next year it will cost you about $495.00 but if you're a Yankee fan it will be about $1500. By and large coaches are more influential than teachers and parents when it comes to discipline and motivation and frankly I believe sports might just offer the greatest analogy to life in general. We can learn to share, compete fairly, lose graciously, win humbly, compromise, work hard, sacrifice, build character, manage anger, become stronger (physically and mentally), and eventually become successful in whatever field we aspire to take on...notice, the term “field” is used when describing just about every walk of life we step into.
As we watch the Olympic Games and root for our teams we should not forget that all of these athletes are merely representing the hundreds of countries that comprise the world. Many of them are at war with each other because their leaders never learned the lessons that athletes are taught...or maybe they just forgot them, never had an opportunity to partake in them or grasp the rules (theoretically), or worse yet had crappy coaches guiding them. I heard a commentator of the games state that “goodwill trumps hostility” referring to the gestures, hugs, and genuine respect among competitors. The thought that any of these “heroes” or their families could face each other with weapons of war in hand negates all the goodwill of these games and then some. Without researching it I would venture to say that there are more Purple Hearts, Silver Stars and Bronze Medals out there than “The Gold” everyone is seeking but who's counting? It shouldn't take a credit card company to drive home the concept that “some things you can't put a price on”, but then no one seems to be in the market for peace these days.
-- Karen Balice-Gregory
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