Sports: shaking us from complaceny, inspiring us and the dark side

Three sports-related stories to end your work week, though truthfully, none are actually about sports themselves, but the role sports play in our lives and the impact those games have on people. Because as much fun as the games are, they are often more than just games.


This is Not A Game -

My sister-in-law works 11 miles from where the shooting in San Bernardina took place. She and her family are safe. It was a little disconcerting to know she was so close to the most recent shooting. But there's going to be another shooting. And another one after that, and another after that. I don't have all (or really any) of the answers as to how to stop this, but doing nothing doesn't seem to be working. More to the point, the mass shootings are now just background noise in our lives. This shouldn't be normal, and it may be up to sports to shake us from our complacency.



Race Against Time - 

Andrea Duke was working in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. A few days after that, a colleague asked her if she wanted to go for a run to escape, briefly, the stress resulting from the terror attacks. That turned in to running marathons for fun. Now, at age 36, Andrea is competing for a spot on the US Olympic team against competitors against competitors 15 years younger. She makes me feel bad about myself for not doing more than going for walks between one and three miles.


 Homeless and Mentally Ill, a Former College Lineman Dies on the Street

While I can't say conclusively that football causes permanent brain damage, there's mounting evidence that it does something to the brain. And helmets, for as great as they are, are designed to protect the skull, not the brain. That's an important distinction. So I have no way of knowing if former North Carolina lineman Ryan Hoffman would have suffered from mental illness had he not played football, but I can't say he wouldn't have either. This story (and the linked story within from March) tell of what Hoffman went through following his playing days at UNC-Chapel Hill.

I still watch football, though not nearly as much as I used to. I'm uneasy knowing that a game being played for my entertainment may result in serious mental damage. I can't break myself fully of the habit, but I'm getting closer.

Stat Geeks, Donald Trump, and Feminism.

The goal is to do this two to three times a week. It really just kind of depends on how many things I find interesting and how much time I have to compile it on here.

One thing before I go on. I forgot to include something I wrote this week. It's my attempt to critically deconstruct an absolutely terrible column. Here's the link for that.

Now, on to today's links.

Fast Times at SABR High

 A high school class about analytics or about the history of baseball? I'd have died to get a class like this when I was in school. I tried to sign up for statistics my senior year thinking it would help me understand baseball numbers, but not enough kids signed up for it and the class didn't get offered. I was lazy in college and didn't take stats because didn't have to. I'm remarkably jealous of these kids getting to take either of these classes while in school and hope there's something similar offered for my kid by the time he gets to high school. 

 The Real Reason the media is rising up against Donald Trump

 I was among those who thought Trump would fade as the campaign went along. I've been wrong. Here, David Roberts takes a deep look at why he hasn't faded and how Trump has circumvented the traditional unspoken media rules. I'm not smart enough or politically astute enough to know how this plays out. Like all primary elections, it'll depend on how well organized the Trump campaign is in individual states when it comes time to get out the vote. 

Porn for the Privledged

Still working out my thoughts on this, but an interesting look at Choice Feminism and its implications for sex workers. Certainly worth a little bit of your time.

 

Something New

I need to write more. I know this.

But I love to read. A lot. Like time I used to spend writing on here has transitioned to time spent reading. Mostly I blame Twitter. As I think I've mentioned before, I follow a lot of professional writers who tweet out not only their own stories, but articles they find interesting. And since I follow them because I find them interesting, the odds are they articles they send out will be things I find interesting.

But I need to write more. So how do I fix this? But collecting some of my favorite things I read and posting them here for you to possibly enjoy. Ideally, I'll have three different articles to post for you each time, with some quick thoughts on what I've read.

Unfollow 

How a prized daughter of the Westboro Baptist Church came to question its beliefs

 This remains the best thing I've read in 2015 so it should be the first article I post on here. For everyone who says people can't change their mind because of social media, I tell them that a devout member of the Westboro Baptist Church (the ones who picket the funerals of homosexuals and military members, you know the ones) was led to question her beliefs and ultimately leave the church. It's worth your time.

 Rosa Parks is the name you know. Claudette Colvin is a name you probably should

That teenager, Claudette Colvin, became the first of several women arrested for refusing to abide by the state's segregation laws and social codes of racial deference. Nine months later, Rosa Parks did the same. But today, mention the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the work of integrating public facilities, to anyone — regardless of their politics — and two names are likely to come up. Rosa Parks. Martin Luther King Jr. That is all.

 I love learning new things about our nation's history. I'd always assumed Rosa Parks was the first person to get arrested for not giving up her seat. That she wasn't was news to me. That Claudette Colvin is a name we don't know is a disappointment. Her actions need to be remembered.

How Mighty Ducks the Movie Became Mighty Ducks the NHL Team

I was 13 when The Mighty Ducks came out. It was a typical Disney sports movie about sticking together and overcoming the evil other team. But even then, I thought it strange that a new NHL team would name itself after a kids movie. Erik Malinowski is one of my favorite writers and he does an excellent job detailing the process of how the Mighty Ducks came to be.

This remains a work in progress and we'll see how it goes. Thanks for reading.

Coach Speak

So for the past four seasons he's played, I've coached my son's soccer team. It's fun, most of the time, it's a chance for me to give back and share my knowledge of playing soccer competitively for years and it's also a chance to spend some extra time with my son rather than just being on the sideline while he plays.

We only play for about two months, which now that I type that out, seems like a long time for six and seven year olds. I mean, that's one-sixth of the year, but we only have six practices and then about 10-12 games. There's always a routine throughout the season, no matter the age of the kids. The first practice all the kids are super excited to be there. They're hoping they have one or two friends from school they know on their team and they're a bundle of pent up energy from sitting at school all day.

It's my job, as a volunteer coach, to direct that energy into something that's both productive and educational (learning and improving their soccer skills) and fun for them. I'm never sure if I succeed or fail, but looking at past teams I've coached, it looks like 80 percent of my previous teams have continued playing. If the goal of youth recreation sports is to encourage participation, than keeping 80 percent of five and six year-olds playing seems pretty good.

This season was my first coaching in the Under-8 age group, the Shane's Rib Shack Red Bulls. Before, I could basically go out there with enthusiasm and run around for 45 minutes and the kids had a good time. This season, they were a little older, so that idea didn't exactly work. They still wanted fun, but they wanted to learn and be challenged a little more (though I learned after the first practice not to call the drills "challenges" as one kid got really upset about it.).

Over the course of the season, we got to know each other. I learned who had friends on the other teams, what they enjoyed doing, what their favorite ice cream flavor was. As much as I enjoyed the games and watching the team slowly get better in their skills, I enjoyed just as much the times when they weren't in the game and were just hanging out on the sidelines waiting their turn to play. Somewhere along the way, a few of them started making "grass salads" where they'd pull the grass up and pile it up into a "salad" which would then make it's way on to my shoe while I was busy actually coaching.

Coaching is basically yelling "spread out" constantly in different ways trying to convince six and seven year olds to share the ball and pass. 

Hunter - Of everyone on the team, Hunter was by far the quietest. He was also one of the smallest kids on the team, but he came to every practice, tried hard and improved significantly. He loved playing goalie more than any kid should.

Zoe - Zoe was a spark plug. I'm not sure she ever gets tired. It didn't matter if she was on offense or defense, she would run the length of the field even if it meant she was out of position. Despite my best efforts (as well as those of her parents) she was a ball hawk who wanted to be in the middle of the action.

Kevin - In our first practice, I was offering minimal defense as we were working on dribbling. Kevin pulled off a move I'm  not sure I could do at 17, let alone seven, and I knew I was in trouble. Kevin is a gifted soccer player who, at times, looked bored on the field. I'd let him score two or three goals in a game (often in the first two minutes he played offense) and then ask him to see how many assists he could get.

Kelly - I've seen Kelly on other teams over the past few seasons and was excited to have her on our team this year. She would do anything I asked her to, was always excited, and was the originator of the grass salad. She would always ask if it was ok if she went to sit with her parents when she wasn't in the game, but as the season went along, she started spending more time next to me on the sidelines and we got to talk alot.

Parker - Parker, it turns out, lives in our neighborhood. His dad came up to me after practice one day and asked where we lived and after I told him, he said he thought he recognized me from my walks. He also practiced with the wrong team the first day of practice (each team had half the field, and he went to the other half.) Parker loved playing goalie and was always enthusiastic.

Billy - Through no fault of his own, Billy was my most challenging player. He was so high energy that it was sometimes difficult to keep him under control either during practice or games. Like Zoe, he would chase the ball all over the field regardless of his position. But as the season progressed, I saw Billy's energy as a blessing as he always kept me on my toes and made sure I was ready to do what I needed to do.

J.B. - I played soccer with JB's dad when we were in high school together. JB is an excellent defender who is every coach's dream in that he just wants to do what he can to help the team. In our second to last game, he wanted to be goalie but I couldn't work out the player rotation, so I promised him he could be goalie to start our last game. As soon as he got to the field for that last game, he said "coach, I'm goalie, right?"

Jayden - I'm not sure Jayden liked me at the beginning of the season. Or maybe he was just adjusting to a new team like everyone else and was struggling with that adjustment. Either way, he was frustrated with me after two practices. But then something clicked and he was excited to be at every practice. He really didn't like when players would leave their position to chase the ball. I saw him away from the fields this week and he made sure to say "Hi Coach Luke" and gave me a high five.

Andrew - My son, who is the entire reason I coach youth soccer to begin with. I wasn't sure I wanted to do it this year, thinking it would be nice to sit on the sidelines, cheer for him and the team and just enjoy the games. But about two weeks before the season start, I asked him if he wanted me to coach. He said he did, so I let the recreation department know. It's hard not to show favoritism and I wonder if sometimes I didn't go too far the other way, not starting him more often than not because he was the coach's kid. He never complained, though he did emphasize that he did NOT want to play goalie.

My son, Andrew, with his medal following our season.

There were times during the season that I really just wanted to be able to sit at home. Whether it was a long day at work or (more likely) me staying up too late the night before watching baseball, sometimes I didn't want to go. But once I got out there and saw our team, it was so much fun.

After our last game, Andrew wanted to watch his friend play in the game after ours. One of the players on that team was a girl I'd coached my first season of coaching. I went over to say hi to her and her parents and her dad told me how much both she and he enjoyed that season and ever since then, he judges his daughter's coach in comparison to how I did.

"You did such a good job of not only making it fun, but also teaching them something," he said. "Not all coaches can talk to kids but you're really good at it."

That, obviously, made me feel good, and it was fun to watch her and the rest of the kids playing.

I'm looking forward to not coaching basketball or baseball (the next two sports my son will most likely play as the school year progresses) and just being a sports dad, but when next Fall rolls around, it'll be time to coach soccer again and I'm already looking forward to it.

(S)he who conquers that fear

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

- Nelson Mandela

So Caitlyn Jenner will be honored at this year's ESPY awards with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. This has people upset. For those who don't know, Jenner is the former Bruce Jenner, an Olympic athlete who, at the age of 65, is a transgender woman who appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair with the headline "Call Me Caitlyn." Predictably, some were ok with this while others were not.

But then, for some reason, people who have never cared, or even knew about, the ESPY awards were outraged (because the Internet runs on outrage and if we stop being outraged, the internet will stop) and saying what Caitlyn Jenner did wasn't courageous or isn't deserving. My Facebook feed was full of pictures of soldiers who lost limbs with captions saying they were courageous while saying explicitly or implicitly that Jenner was not.

This is not to say that people who go off to war and fight are not courageous and are not heroes (though I haven't heard anyone say Lynndie England is a hero in quite a while). The overwhelming majority of soldiers are courageous. Just as the overwhelming majority of firefighters are courageous for running in to burning structures or, for those of us afraid of heights, for climbing up ladders to rescue cats out of trees, which I assume is still done because my knowledge of firefighters comes from 1950s television.

But to limit courage or heroism to only those types of actions is either being willfully ignorant or it's pushing an agenda.

There are people who would tell playing a game of baseball is not courageous, but when you're the first black player in Major League Baseball and you're getting death threats for daring play the game, you're both courageous and a hero. Riding a bus doesn't seem courageous, but when you're Rosa Parks and you refuse to give up your seat to a White man, it's an example of courageous living.

The middle school boy who stands up to the kids picking on the unpopular student is courageous and likely a hero, at least to the unpopular student. But there are those who post on social media who would say that student is not courageous because he didn't go off to war. There's the four-year old who is scared to death of learning to swim but takes the first steps into the pool to overcome her fears. That kid is courageous, but there are those who want you believe that child has not displayed courage because it doesn't fit their narrow definition of the word.

So again, there are people who will try to limit your understanding of what courage is. I urge you to not listen to these people on this issue. They may be very friendly, very smart, very caring people. But in this instance, they are simply wrong. Simply because they choose to ignore other meanings of the word does not make it so, any more than people who tell you racism doesn't exist doesn't make it so. Courage comes in many sizes, shapes and colors.We all have our own fears and we all have the capacity to be courageous in our own way when we take the step to confront and conquer that fear. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.