Our kids grew up
playing youth sports. Swimming and soccer, mostly, though each tried other
sports along the way.
Wil tried track
and cross country and was really good at both. He had that rare ability to not
only go long distance but also to run with speed. He also tried basketball and
wrestling. But for him, the only sport that took root was soccer.
As a youngster, Hannah
did gymnastics and seemed a natural. She also tried field hockey for a year and
was pretty good. I think her ability to run and her knowledge of soccer helped.
She also played basketball and I thought she did well. But for her, swimming
and soccer were her sports, but she had to give up swimming after a shoulder
injury. As a young adult, she now goes to a kickboxing gym for conditioning.
Emily, like her
sister, was into swimming and soccer. At some point in middle school, she made
the decision to only play soccer and it has paid off since she plays for her
collegiate team. But she also tried martial arts, softball and basketball.
And you can
imagine the ribbons, medals and trophies that have accumulated over the years.
When they weren’t thrown away- not by Kim or me, but by them- they collected
dust and added to clutter. Of course they kept some of the more memorable ones.
I’m an avid Packer
and football fan. While I coached basketball in high school and college, I was
a terrible basketball player. My players would make fun of me, and rightfully
so. The only sport I was half-way decent at was football. I liked the contact,
but at five-foot-eight and being not terribly fast or quick, high school
football for me was my Mount Everest. A lot of players better than I was. Way
better.
At times I’m equal
parts amused and frustrated at polls and rankings of athletes. ESPN has a Top
100 listing of football players. National polls of football teams and
basketball teams usually get it wrong and teams bounce up and down like yo-yos.
We bestow on
athletes Most Valuable, Comeback Player of the Year, Best Offensive Player,
Best Defensive Player, and on and on. Medals and trophies, money and cars, all given
out to the alleged best among the elite.
It’s frustrating
to me, but also interesting to me. Weird, I guess.
Honestly, I prefer
the stories of Packer players riding little kids’ bikes to and from the
practice field, building both memories and relationships as they do. I prefer
stories of athletes who at one time lived on the streets or out of a car, who
survived and overcame gangs and drugs, to not only make a team but become
beloved by fans and players. I prefer stories of athletes finishing college
while playing the sport they loved because they have a vision of a future
beyond the sport.
I prefer stories
of athletes and teams adopting terminally ill kids, inviting them to practice
and into the locker room. I prefer stories of athletes visiting sick children
in hospitals or their homes in order to somehow, in some way, make a burden
lighter.
I prefer stories
of athletes . . . and others . . . giving of themselves quietly and out of the
spotlight in order to touch the lives of others, in order to make a difference
in a life.
I’ve always
believed that Medals And Glory need to be given to athletes . . . and others .
. . who make a positive difference in the lives of others. Let us give them a
ranking and national acclaim.
Yet, I have a
feeling they’d be embarrassed and would run from the spotlight faster than
Usain Bolt in a 100 meter dash. Because for them, they give without the
expectation of being recognized. They give without the expectation of an award
or acclaim.
That’s why my
heroes are folks like the elderly nun from Calcutta serving the poor or the
former president who humbled himself and allowed a little boy to rub his head,
or that same former president giving knuckle-bump a custodian. My heroes
include a former president who, in his poor health, builds houses for Habitat
for Humanity. Each of them Do, because they see a need. They Do, because it is
the right thing to do. They Do, and perhaps, so should we. Something to think
about . . .
Live Your Life,
and Make A Difference!
To My Readers:
I finished my
fifth work of thriller/suspense fiction,
Caught in a Web and I’ll keep you
posted as to when it will be published. While we wait, I am busy having fun
with my sixth, Spiral Into Darkness.
Please feel free
to connect with me at:
Twitter at
@jrlewisauthor
Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
If you like Thriller/Suspense fiction, check out my
novels:
Available on Amazon for .99 the Lives Trilogy Prequel,
Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete
Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys
left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know
one another, the lives of FBI Agent Kelliher and two boys become interwoven
with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them
are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as
each search for a way out. http://bit.ly/Taking-Lives-JLewis
Stolen Lives, Book One of the Lives Trilogy:
Two thirteen year
old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI
agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all the others- dead!
They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the possibility exists
that one of his team members might be involved. http://bit.ly/Stolen-Lives-JLewis
Shattered
Lives, Book Two of the Lives Trilogy:
A 14 year old boy
stands in the kitchen pointing a gun at his uncle. There are many reasons for
him to pull the trigger. Mainly, he had started it all. http://bit.ly/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Splintered Lives, Book Three of the Lives Trilogy:
A 14 year old boy is willing to make the
ultimate sacrifice. High up on an Arizona mesa, he faces three desperate and
dangerous men in hopes of saving his father and his brothers. http://bit.ly/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis
