When Kids Are Not Olympians

Jul 252012
 

Boston Bruins championship banner being raised

No matter how much inspiration I drew from Nancy Greene and Barbara Cochran and no matter how hard I was willing to work, the closest I’ll ever  get to becoming an Olympic skier is that I was named for one.  I love the sport but am simply not talented or brave enough to compete in that arena.

And I’m not alone. Though wildly successful in other areas, my Dad never got to pitch in a World Series and my adult son may be approaching the day he stops waiting for the Boston Bruins to call him for his Stanley Cup appearance.

Let’s face it: we’re not all created with identical talents.  It is NOT true that you can “do anything you want as long as you work hard enough” and I don’t think it’s fair to pass that on to our children.

Am I making excuses for my family and our athletic “failures”?  I don’t think so.  I’m just relaying facts: despite desire, love of sport, well-developed work ethics and vivid imagining we simply lack the requisite natural ability.

Yet those early sports-related passions are hardly a waste: they’ve got some great building blocks.  Olympic figure skating champ Peggy Fleming put it well when she said “I think exercise tests us in so many ways, our skills, our hearts, our ability to bounce back after setbacks.”

So your what if your little one has a passion in an area that doesn’t match aptitude or opportunity?  What of the kiddo who dreams of surfing but lives in  the mountains? The one who yearns to try rock climbing and lives where it’s flat?  What then?

What about celebrating the strengths that come from trying? The knowledge and learning that can come from being an informed fan?  A lifetime love and understanding of a sport or activity? Or small ways that they could bring some aspect of that interest to life?

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Is Dad a “Good Sport?”

Jun 182010
 

Try as I might, I can’t seem to get off of this baseball theme.  Maybe it’s because my Dad’s birthday and Fathers’ Day are quite close together and, like so many people, I have lots of ‘sports with Dad’ memories.  Like so many parents, he was a Little League volunteer and coach — something I got to see my adult son do a couple of weeks ago.  Maybe it’s in our DNA.

So I was happy to find  this article — Lisa Guerrero’s tribute to her Dad and so many of the their connections and conversations around sports.  I particularly like the notion that, if she wanted something she’d “better get practicing.”

Have you ever wondered about the intensity and competition in a household headed by a professional athlete?  I guess it’s like any other family business — there are parts of it that are attractive and parts that children hope not to repeat once they reach their grown-up years.  If you’ve also wondered then you might want to read about athletes following in their father’s footsteps.

Probably no discussion about kids and parents and sports would be complete without addressing the concept of the ‘out-of-control sports parent.’  It’s amazing how easily we can sometimes let our needs overshadow those of our kids.  An oldie but a goodie, I’ve read this article by Ed Graney before but it’s a wonderful reminder called:  Memo to Sports Dads: Let Your Kids be Kids.

It Really WAS a Perfect Game

Jun 032010
 
Video clip of the blown call at first base. Re...

Video clip of the blown call at first base. Replays showed that Miguel Cabrera’s throw to Armando Galarraga beat Jason Donald to the base, but Jim Joyce called Donald safe. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Picture this.  You’re sitting in the stands at your son or daughter’s baseball game.  You’re leaning forward, on the edge of your seat, and notice that you’ve stopped breathing.  The pitcher – your child – is only one out away from a perfect game.

The next pitch released, you hear the crack of the bat, see the ball fielded in plenty of time and watch as the umpire calls the runner…. ‘safe.’

WHAT?  SAFE?  One out away and robbed of a perfect game by a bad call? How would you react, Mom or Dad?  Would you yell at the umpire?  Curse at the coach?  Threaten to take your child out of the league?  Rant and rave to anyone who would listen?

Or, would you respond with the total grace and class of all of the people involved when this actually occurred during a major league baseball game last night?

Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Armando Galarraga was one out away from pitching only the 21st perfect game in major league baseball history.  And, as in all such games, there had been some spectacular fielding to bring the game to this moment.  The batter connected with the pitch, Galarraga went to first base to pick up the throw and umpire Jim Joyce called the runner safe.  He was wrong.

According to news accounts the manager argued, the crowd booed…. and the young pitcher went back to work, facing one more batter to win a one-hit shutout.

This is a great moment in baseball for a number of reasons, and probably far more memorable than if Jim Joyce had made the correct call.

While listening to audio of both men this morning, one thing is clear:  in the moment, both thought that the runner was safe.  In other words, they did the best they could with the information they had at the time.  It was only after the game, when each of the men had the opportunity to view the replays, that they knew for certain the umpire had struck out.

Here’s where the story goes from good to great.  The umpire sought out the pitcher and apologized to him.  He endured six minutes of media questioning during which he assumed full responsibility for his actions without making excuses.  Just over and over, sadly but straight up, a lot of different ways to say “I was wrong and I am sorry.”

Galarraga’s audio is equally classy.  He seems far more concerned for Jim Joyce than for an entry in a record book.  As he said, “I know I have it.”  And isn’t that the definition of true integrity?  How inspiring to listen to someone who has more faith in his own experience than in the ranting of angry fans and reporters.

If baseball is still our ‘national past time’ then this really was a perfect game.

This is the type of teachable moment that professional athletes can offer our kids:  grace and class,  generosity and personal responsibility.  Forgiveness.

So, instead of joining the media debate about how this ‘wrong’ should be righted, let’s find a way to honor the parents of these two inspiring professionals.  They did a great job.

Perhaps we should nominate them for the Parenting Hall of Fame.

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