Sports teach life lessons — but don’t take it too far
DUANESBURG — The OMOTM met at the Chuck Wagon on Tuesday morning and it certainly felt like a December morning in the Hilltowns. Snow on the ground, temperature in the teens, cars that took a little longer to warm up (love those seat heaters!) but the coffee that follows us to our seats was hot and fresh as usual, and welcomed.
After missing a couple of breakfasts, I was welcomed back and was looking forward to the usual sparkling conversation to be heard around the room at the different tables. Right off the bat, the tone was set by our own resident poet laureate, Jake, who, when asked if he was a hunter and, if so, was he successful this year?
He responded in the affirmative to being a hunter as he has spent his life hunting for “Truth” and “Peace and the Meaning of Life.”
The table fell silent at that answer, but only for a moment before another OF produced a picture of a nine-point buck that insisted on remaining still long enough to have his picture taken.
That same OF, who definitely is not prone to watching football on the TV on the weekends, also showed a couple of other pictures of a couple of big, 24-inch northern pike who also took the time to pose for pictures while he was fishing in Lake George this past weekend. I think we should call him Daniel Boone from now on.
We all signed a get-well card for Pastor Jay Francis who underwent a knee replacement operation this past week. All is well and we look forward to welcoming the pastor back as soon as possible.
Two of our OFs wore their big furry fox hats today. I probably got that wrong, but the tail didn’t look like what I would think a coonskin hat should look like. I’ll take a picture next time. They sure looked warm however, and big!
It’s Just a Game
A while back, we talked about high school sports and the fact that there are programs out there that make it possible for athletes that age to train and practice and play that sport the whole year. We made it clear that these are additional programs and not part of any particular high school’s curriculum.
It was in addition to what a school could and would offer. I made my view clear that I thought, at the high school level, kids should enjoy different sports, go out for different teams, and have some fun while they are at it. Make new friends, enjoy being a kid.
It doesn’t last very long. When you are just 15 or 16 years old, you are still growing; time enough for 24/7/365 training later.
What I did want to emphasize were the lessons young people are being taught at every level of every sport every day. If you are on a team, for any team sport, the concepts each athlete will learn stay with them throughout their life. The concepts of fair play, competition, doing your part for the betterment of the team, of losing gracefully or, and this can be even harder, winning gracefully.
On the other hand, if your talents or interests lie in an individual sport like swimming, or golf, or the marching band, singing with the glee club or barber shop quartet, you are still contributing and competing to be part of a team. The same lessons are taught, just being applied to a different arena.
A friend of mine and fellow OMOTM, and also the current president of the Kiwanis Club of the Helderbergs, Frank Dees, has always been involved in sports. The Altamont Enterprise had a wonderful full-page editorial a dozen years ago about Frank and his work in high school sports.
Frank started a not-for-profit called It’s Just a Game. Frank deals with head injuries and concussions, I love the name. It represents what I have always thought; this is high school sports for goodness sake. It’s just a game.
I am not making a case against football or any other contact sport. I also played football in high school and college, but I am trying to emphasize the positive aspects of high school team sports and athletics in general. Some good life lessons can, and are, being taught at the high school level.
There are some real downsides to taking it too far. High school kids are not pros; let kids be kids. The idea of trying out for the marching band, glee club, or barber shop quartet, it’s all the same.
The same lessons are all there to be taught and learned. It is all the same, to be part of something bigger than just you, it’s a good thing. I have talked with many of the OFs at the OMOTM breakfasts, and to a man, they agree.
They all have fond memories of when they were young and played on their high school teams. It was important then, and is important now. Simpler times then, and while times change, the lessons do not.
The high schools do a great job in their physical education programs while teaching the many lessons that the world of sports can provide. Remember, it may be high school athletic programs, but we learn a lot. It’s Just a Game, and so much more.
Tuesday’s OMOTM who enjoyed good hot coffee and great food at the Chuck Wagon were: Wally Guest, Harold Guest, Wayne Gaul, Ted Feurer, Jake Lederman, Frank A. Fuss, Ed Goff, Jake Herzog, Warren Willsey, Jim Gardner, Frank Dees, Russ Pokorny, Roger Shafer, Joe Rack, Mark Traver, Glenn Patterson, Lou Chenck, Marty Herzog, Jamey Darrah, Jack Norray, Gerry Cross, Dick Dexter, John Dabb, Elwood Vanderbilt, Bob Donnelly, Dave Hodgetts, Alan Defazio, Herb Behrmann, Paul Guiton, and me.