The rewards of competition

Tell me again how your dangerous sport should be outlawed.

Tell me again about the head trauma, the broken bones, the arthritis and the chronic nature of your pain.

I’m listening, and I’ll broadcast those dangers in the newspapers and on every media I can. I’ll listen to every word. I’ll sympathize and empathize and hope for the best.

But I won’t tell you to stop. I won’t ask parents to keep their children away from your games. I won’t tell moms they shouldn’t sign up their sons, or dads to keep their daughters from playing.

The death of local sporting legend Kai Yip has me thinking about boxing, a lot. It’s a dangerous, bloodthirsty sport. Violent and unrelenting, it batters the body and slows the mind over time. It leaves a mark. Ask an old boxer, one who battled for years in the ring, about his hands. Ask about the swelling when the weather changes or the aches that come with every morning.

I have. I’ve seen greats like Rick Duff, an Olympian, move like a man who’s been to a few fights, sparred a few times and taken a few hits. Rick’s one of the lucky ones. He’s a survivor.

Ask an old hockey player about his hips. Ask about his knees and his feet. Ask Kris Versteeg what it takes to get his 30-year-old body ready for an NHL season. Be sure to ask how long he expected a skilled player of his size to survive. He’s a fighter. The pain and lingering horror of a lifetime of sports competition is often traded off by the desperation of the athlete. For Duff, boxing was a release. It was an escape, a tonic and a way to prove he could be more than he was. Duff showed that there were faster and better fighters, but few tougher.

Versteeg shows everyone who called him a showboat, a brat and a punk that he’s a valued asset, an important piece to two championship teams. He heard from his hometown fans that he was selfish, then used that same personality to win two Stanley Cups and maintain a 600game NHL career.

These guys will suffer, but their competitions have helped them become who they are.

It’s not just pros and Olympians. Several knee surgeries is a small price to pay for the rugby player who knows she’s made a gorgeous tackle. The tough, physical image in the mirror thumbs its nose at the timid kid walking the halls of a high school.

Sports are dangerous. There are consequences you need to know, and that leagues, coaches and parents need to make clear. There are also benefits. Learning to win and lose on a sports stage is a small-dose lesson for what’s yet to come. Confidence isn’t easy to find working a till during Christmas, but it’s often available on the ice or the court or the field.

I’ve heard too-young athletes slur their words in their 50s instead of their 60s or 70s. I know what punch-drunk sounds like. I feel broken bones in cold weather myself.

I turned to sports for the same reason you did. I needed something. Others find it on a blank canvas or a sheet of music but I could only see it on a rugby or soccer pitch or a basketball court.

Tell me why those sports should be outlawed. Tell me about the dangers and the risks.

But there’s a worse fate out there, and it might be a world without those dangers or free of those risks — and the lessons that come with them.