LEARNING WHO WE ARE WITHOUT SPORTS [R, 5-7-20]

Christ In Winter: Reflections on Faith & Life for the Times of Winter

LEARNING WHO WE ARE WITHOUT SPORTS   [R, 5-7-20]

One thing I am learning during this corona virus thing is that there are a whole lot of sports teams about which I care nothing at all. With no live games available, all the sports channels have “classic” games, but they do not involve the Reds or IU, so who cares? Oh, yes, Cubs fans, and others of the great unwashed, but, I repeat, who cares?

I had not realized that I am not a sports fan. I thought I was, because I watched games every night, and every afternoon on the weekends. And I read all the sports pages. And I knew about teams like the Cubs, because they play the Reds, and I knew about teams like Michigan, because they play IU, but I don’t even care if they exist the rest of the time.

And I thought I was a sports fan because I keep old bats and balls and gloves in the garage, artifacts I did use at one time. And because I wear caps and uniform shirts and sox and t-shirts and hoodies and pajamas that extol the virtues of IU and the Reds.

And I thought I was a sports fan because I get really cold, even in the summer, when I see green and gold stuff, but that was just because I lived 100 miles north of Green Bay, and civilization--if you can call Green Bay civilized—well, they do have an iHop—for a long time, far too long, and you can never quite shake from your bones the chill of Lambeau Cathedral.

And I thought I was a sports fan because I have baseballs, and photographs, signed by Joe Morgan and Edd Roush, displayed on my book shelves, and a bobblehead of Ken Griffey, Jr. [I also have a bobblehead of John Wesley, who would have been a Reds fan, if he’d had the chance, but I don’t think he counts in this context.] And trophies for running long distances without being chased by a bear.

I find that in all the “classic” games, the ones I really enjoy are like a rugby match between Australia and New Zealand in 1997, and a curling match between Norway and Saskatchewan in 1988. I’d so much rather watch those than football between Miami and Nebraska, or baseball between Oakland and Atlanta. I don’t know why they even bother to have teams in those places.

Alright, I admit I have a particular gripe. I ordered Fox Sports OH on my TV and paid a lot of money for it, even though I cringe at anything called “Fox,” so that I could see every Reds game this year, and right after they took my money, they called off the baseball season! Refund? Are you kidding? I’m lucky they don’t charge me extra because I don’t get to see any games.

Okay. I’m over that now. I can go back to writing letters to idiots in politics, and sending money to places that feed the hungry, and praying for Covid19 patients and those who care for them, and going back to inserting Oxford commas. Those are the important things. But after this damnable thing is over, sports fandom will never be the same again.

A time like this reveals the real person beneath the paraphernalia. This durn virus has turned me into some sort of regular person instead of a sports fan. It has revealed that I was never a sports fan; I just like the color red.

Poor Helen; it took her 61 years, all this time thinking she was married to a sports fan, and making allowances because everyone knows sports fans are… well, they’re like that, and there’s nothing you can do about it, and then just when she thought she had it figured out…

John Robert McFarland

I’m sorry. You probably came to this site thinking there might be something uplifting, or at least slightly humorous, and all you got was an old man ranting like an old man. But tomorrow there is a nice “daily” devotional based on a Lin Yutang novel, so that’s something we can both look forward to.