I Was Thinking... I Love Sports, But

It’s a strange time of year for sports. Even though it is early June, professional basketball and hockey are still finishing their seasons while 1/3 of the baseball season is already over. On a recent Sunday I could watch two USFL football games if I didn’t want to watch college softball, lacrosse, rugby, tennis, golf, NASCAR or girls barrel racing.
Americans seem to have a huge appetite for all kinds of sports. Newspapers have whole sports sections, and all local news programs designate part of their half hour for sports. Cable networks have numerous channels exclusively for it and some radio stations are 24-hour sports. Don’t get me wrong, I love sports.
Growing up in the 1950s and 60s most of my heroes were sports figures. The highlight of the summer was going to a Milwaukee Braves baseball game. I got to see stars like Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, and my favorite Joe Adcock.
Then there were the opponent stars like Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, Stan Musial, Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax and Duke Snyder. Although we didn’t play the American League, I still had pictures of Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford from the Yankees.
Growing up only 45 miles from Green Bay during the 1960s, everyone was a Packer fan. Players like Bart Starr, Paul Horning, Ray Nitschke, Jim Taylor, Jerry Kramer, and Willie Davis were larger than life to an impressionable young man. But this was before sports became big business. I never heard how much any of the players I admired earned. My sports heroes usually spent the bulk of their career with the same team. The sports stories were about the scores, the statistics, and injuries. They weren’t about player hold outs, accusations of sexual misconduct, or multi-million-dollar contracts. Oh, how it has changed.
While I still love sports, participated in many aspects over the years as either a player, coach, or official, and probably watch too much of it, I do question our fixation with it. Why do we commit so much time and resources to them? Since living in Minnesota, I’ve seen three stadiums for the Twins and Vikings, two for professional hockey and several for basketball, not to mention pro soccer. Taxpayers are often footing the bill for billionaire owners who employ millionaire players.
Even college sports now have to continually improve their facilities and offer financial incentives to attract players so their programs may succeed. While high school sports haven’t gotten that far yet, it is coming. Schools assess their rivals’ facilities and try to keep up with neighboring districts. Now even fields, gyms, and auditoriums get business sponsors to alleviate the costs. In many schools, a coach’s tenure may depend more on their win-loss record than how they are able to develop the youth in the program. Some coaches are elevated to near star status for their win-loss record regardless of what they did to achieve it.
There was a time when sports were encouraged for what they could do for kids. Kids “played” sports. It was still a game. It was a healthy activity where sportsmanship was taught. Teamwork, persistence, hard work, and learning how to win and lose were life lessons.
Kids were encouraged to try all kinds of sports, and nobody got cut. No one was told that unless they went to the right camp or trained or played all year for a particular sport, they wouldn’t make the team next year. Tournaments weren’t scheduled on Sundays or over holiday breaks when families should be together.
Some of today’s professional athletes are amazing. They have tremendous abilities and are paid unbelievable salaries to perform. But that is what they do, perform, they are entertainers.
But I think of those that work in nursing homes caring for the elderly or those that run a day care center and care for children and people that work in a hospital or a school. They rarely get noticed for what they do and aren’t paid what they are really worth. Somewhere along the way, our societal value system has become jaded when sports have taken on an overly important role in our lives.
Did You Ever Wonder? — Why is it that if you turn SWIMS upside down, it still says SWIMS?
Photo: I was thinking Ron Albright