Clarity
Good Afternoon!
I’ve been a bit touchy-feely since coming back to the column…
Transition…transition will do that…
Metamorphosis from one thing, hopefully to another, can give some clarity.
So when you see something stark, something clear, something right in front of you…you should be clear instead of esoteric…When you see someone about to get hit by a car you shouldn’t politely clear your throat and say, “Excuse me”.
No man! When you see someone about to get whacked in the middle of the street, and you see it happening in all of its clarity, you scream; “Look out!”
You see a multi-ton vehicle bearing down on a 120-pounds of flesh and bone you shout something.
When I think of the football season getting ready to start, I think of programs that don’t have any footballs. Of assistant coaches doing something they love (true), giving of themselves in incredible ways for zero or little pay. The head coaches do this as well…Every bit of teaching they do as useful for life than any class taught outside of the three “Rs”
Enough about the coaches, what about the parents? Too often we discuss the father who moves his kid seven times in four years to give him a better chance of becoming the starting quarterback at Citrus.
What we fail to recognize is the work most parents do to provide for their young people. To do all the necessaries that eventually culminate with their son putting on the helmet and pads…just to have the awesome experience of entering a lighted stadium on a Friday night to the cheers of fans, family, and peers.
And in the two-a-days, in the sweat, in the exhaustion, in the moments when the player feels they are the most overworked and abused athlete in the history of the planet what is lost is the blessing of being able to run, to jump, to act, react, and think.
Ever been to the fourth floor at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles? It’s the most beautiful floor in the entire complex. Bright colors, cool stuff…It’s the cancer ward for kids.
You ever been to the pulmonary clinic on the first floor of the same hospital? Seen the kids needing brackets to hold their heads up and an air hose snaking around from the machine in back of the their wheelchair into their trachs to breathe for them?
Thats them, not us. Only country in the history of the planet to be involved in two and a half wars and more concerned with the coming football season.
Don’t feel guilty, don’t feel stupid, but recognize what is coming along with one of the best times of the year (football season)… What is it? What is coming with Faith Hill on Sunday nights and football on Friday nights, discussions about Boise, the BCS, and USC? What are we in the cross hairs of?
That multi-ton vehicle bearing down on us? That thing of harm getting ready to crush us? That thing, I believe potentially, that makes us most despicable as people? It is an iron beast called ‘Ingratitude’.
Don’t be sorry, don’t lament, don’t quit, don’t change your Facebook status for an hour, or start a new foundation…don’t politely clear your voice and whisper, “excuse me”.
No man! Raise your hands and shout; “Thank you for my life!”
The Dude abides…
422
Fanview Lite appears most days Monday through Saturday
Contact Joe at joe@midvalleysports.com
Leave a Reply