Sports thoughts
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. A time for family and friends, a time to think how lucky we are, a time to share a meal, and a time to watch sports.
I guess I take a lot for granted when I’m switching back and forth between football or basketball games, and stuffing my face. How fortunate are we to live in a country where we can watch all the sports we want daily. Just imagine the number of countries around the world where all you could watch is soccer. Don’t get me wrong, soccer is a great sport, great for kids, great for exercise, but if it were the only sport on TV, I’d take up crocheting.
Watching a Thanksgiving day game reminded me about the thousands of people behind the scenes that make games possible for us to enjoy. From the parking lot attendant to the concession workers, to the ground crew, to the security people, to the clean up gang, they all work tirelessly so we can enjoy ourselves. Let’s not forget the hundreds of workers, technicians and cameramen who make it possible for Heckle and Jeckle to sit in a booth and tell us what is going on.
I’m thankful for the thousands of great athletes that are able to compete in a wide variety of sports. I know, I criticize their salaries, their poor performances, their pampering, and sometimes their actions on and off the field. But let’s think of all the places around the world where great athletes don’t get to perform, get paid, or even be free.
It was shocking some years ago when the Iraqi soccer team was playing international competition. The players were beaten because they didn’t produce a win by government thugs. Imagine if our sports competitions were handled this way. Poor Cleveland Browns. We are blessed and lucky.
Sometimes we are critical of today’s youth. “All they do is play video games,” “everybody that participates needs to get a trophy,” “the parents in the stands are horrible,” are common complaints about our youth. But you know, for all of our complaining, this country has more youth organizations, more sports, more fields, more equipment than the rest of the world combined. Gosh,