Positive Athletes Help Us All

 I sometimes think of the comedians that make fun of sports with silly  stories about people chasing after little balls on the golf course and confusion about just "who is on first!" Some sports fans might give these routines a little laugh, but for me they were never that funny. Oh, certainly there is a lot of emotion that goes into being a fan and sometimes things do get out of hand. But the truth is that real life can just be very difficult for many people. Sometimes the difficulties go on and on. And while many of us get down on our knees and ask for God's help, sports offers a great time-out from our worries and makes us feel young at any age, if only for a short time. Saint Paul used sports as a metaphor for not just life, but life well-lived. I think Saint Paul would have been a sports fan. 

I know young sports fans enjoy playing sports more than anything. Watching sports is the next best thing.  And then there is clothing, memorabilia, signage for our cars, sports bars, branded sports drinks and foods, sports programs, sports news feeds, and today all types of gambling promotions. And of course, there are books on sports! That's where I come in. 

Certainly, not all athletes are role models, but many of them do make great sacrifices to work as a member of a team to achieve wonderful results. They work through all kinds of setbacks and tough times. And if we are patient enough, our teams usually come though at one time or another. When Mike Cameron wrote our Public Bonehead, Private Hero about baseball's Fred Merkle, Mike's favorite team the Chicago Cubs were still lovable losers who had not won a World Series in over 100 years. Then in 2016, Mike's Cubs led by Joe Madden and a great group of young talent won the World Championship. Each year we see amazing turn-arounds that keep fans engaged. 

You can complain about the sports in 2020 with the fits and starts, the lack of real fans at games, etc., because of Coronavirus, but I am one of those who is very happy to have something--some semblance of the sports life we love. Many of the contests and results may be recorded with asterisks and footnotes, but there is something wonderful about the positive athletes, coaches, refs, management and owners who are giving their best.  

If you look back at the history of professional sports, you will see there were many times where seasons were seriously affected by tough times. Many times, the game carried on regardless and for most people the message was enlightening: we will get through this and better times will follow. 

Pillars and Scapegoating

Pillars is the term we used for our book about the coaches who went on to create the top winning programs in professional football. A coach has to have all his players doing well as a team for a winning program. I know from my own modest coaching experience, as you move up in age and level of competition any weaknesses can often be exploited by your opposition. You might be able to hide a poor outfielder in right field in the early stages of Little League, but the more advanced teams will start hitting to right at every opportunity.  As a coach, you learn that the program you  put in place has to spend time focusing on improving your weakest players. 

Sometimes in the cruelest of ways, a very good player fails in a critical moment and the public comes to scapegoat him or her although other team members were certainly part of the loss. You often see a coach or group of players expound on the importance of playing as a team and teamwork.  That doesn't mean however, that everyone shares that opinion after a loss. 

We recently saw that Bill Buckner passed away. Buckner is remembered by some for his missed ground ball in the 1986 World Series between Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets. Similar to other players who have been scapegoated in Major League Baseball, there was plenty of blame to go around for the loss, but Buckner took it on the chin. Buckner was injured, and many believe he should not have been in the game at the time. Regardless, the mistake was a small footnote in a splendid career--the error has been exaggerated in its importance. With the Boston Red Sox now winning 4 World Series Championships in the 21st century, you hope to see more spirited positive coverage of Buckner's career. 

Our book, Public Bonehead, Private Hero, covered the baseball life of Fred Merkle. Merkle played in the pre-radio time when the newspapers followed baseball very closely. Merkle's mistake was not tagging second base when a player on his team lined a hit to the outfield and Merkle got off the field as many of his contemporary baserunners would have done in the same circumstance. Tagging the next base was the rule on a game winning hit with men on base, but the rule was generally ignored. Merkle was only 19 at the time, but the press was merciless and raked Merkle over the coals in the press. Fans picked up on the write ups and let Merkle have it at home and away--for DECADES.