CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith and Life For The Years of Winter—LIVING IN THE PRESENT TIME [Sa, 3-18-23]
The voting for the Hall of Fame is complete. Spring training has started. Opening Day is close. That means it is time for comparisons…
Who was the better pitcher, Walter Johnson or Randy Johnson? Who was the better hitter, Joe DiMaggio or Joe Morgan? Who was the better left fielder, Ted Williams or Carl Yazstremski? Who was the better Aaron, Hank or Tommy? [Together they hit 768 home runs.]
Some players would be great in any era, because of their physical tools. Willie Mays, for instance. But most can be judged only against their contemporaries. Especially Judge…Aaron, that is.
That’s true with any old person. As we look back and evaluate our lives, we can do it only in terms of what was relevant in our twenties, or thirties, or fifties… not what is necessary to be relevant for folks who are in their twenties, or thirties, or fifties… now.
I used to do early morning walking in malls in winter time, especially when we lived in northern climes. One day I was walking by the vending machines and saw an old man trying to stuff a dollar bill into the coin slot of the coke machine that had raised its price to $1.00. Since I was a young man of 70 at the time, I showed him how to smooth out the bill and place it into the dollar slot, which he didn’t even know was there, since he had always lived in coin slot eras. He looked down and muttered, “I’m such a dummy…”
No, he wasn’t. I’m sure he had used coin slots successfully for years. He wasn’t a dummy, just evaluating himself by a different era, the era of obscenely expensive cokes.
We do a lot of irrelevant evaluating… Kids are so much smarter now. We don’t even know what Tik Tok is. I can’t figure out how to work that thing on the TV, but little kids can. I don’t understand what rappers are saying. [Be glad!]
When I look back at the various stages of my life, I have to ask, Did I make a relevant contribution in terms of what was needed then, not in terms of what is needed now?
John Robert McFarland
I was always an athlete, which is to say, competitive. Always making comparisons, in one way or another, with others in physical prowess. You don't need to be good to be athletic, you just need to be a competitor. I didn't stop being an athlete when I stopped winning, (which I seldom did anyway), but when I stopped trying to win...or at least do better. Something changed a few years ago, when I joined the Anytime Fitness gym crowd. I was doing up to 10 floors on the Step Master before the "burn" turned to can-not-do-one-more. The young woman who got on, after I limped down, was still climbing steps, when I left twenty minutes and wobbly legged later. I think I am going to try a new kind of athleticism. I am going to see how good I can be at not caring if I can get better. Maintenance is the new athleticism. Survival is enough. I am leaving the enjoyment of athletic self improvement, to becoming a voyeur. I am going to live a new vicarious life in watching the victories of my favorite athletes and teams. Right now that is not working so well. SMU didn't even get a NIT invite. Indiana men and Indiana women lost to Miami. The Spurs suck. They are not bad athletes, they are just not winning. I don't mind. I don't mind.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Bob. But I'm actually a better athlete now, as I remember how great I was in my competitive days.
DeleteIt's Tommie Aaron, not Tommy Aaron. Tommy Aaron is a golfer.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the correction, David. And so nice to hear from you!
ReplyDeleteAnd you were smart to avoid detassling!
DeleteThe only goal in my life was to be a professional athlete. However, I was never a great athlete - no sports scholarships for me. But I had minor successes. I won a free throw shooting contest and got to go 60 miles away to the next competition. I won tennis trophies too. And my Little League baseball team, Whalen's Elevator, once won the city tournament. Maybe we won in spite of me - my father said that I didn't have a level swing, and never changed, despite his pleading. In high school my 3200-meter relay team got to go to an Area's Best meet at Millikin University due to times of 2:02, 2:02, 2:06, and 2:06 in a qualifying event. Yeah, I was one of the slower times. At least I had the pleasure of living vicariously through others. My next door neighbor and childhood friend, Jeff Gueldner, was part of Danny and the Miracles. And I played with a future major league baseball player, Stan Royer, when I was on Mal Penn, a Babe Ruth team. A contemporary of mine, Jim Maton of nearby Shelbyville, went to the Olympic trials in the 800-meter run - he got to 1:46 and change. Back to reality. A friend of mine saw me dunking basketballs on a children's basketball court. He said that I barely got off the ground, that I lacked hops big time. There was a movie made about me starring Woody Harrelson.
ReplyDeleteYes, David, so many of us kids wanted to be pro athletes, and just didn't have the skills, although Charleston developed a lot of pros, including Stan Royer as well as Marty Patton and Jeff
ReplyDeleteossett and Kevin Seitzer. My wife remembers Stan as one of her students at CHS. As people get old and still want to be athletes, I recommend pickleball.