Putting sports into perspective

The NCAA College basketball Final Four games are here. Fans across the country will be cheering for their favorite teams. There is nothing wrong with that if it is all kept in perspective.

Sporting events, unless you are a participant, are entertainment. Whatever the outcome, life will go on.

The vicious language one hears from every side of fandom is just wrong. How can you “hate” this team or that team? Hate should be reserved for those who actually do you harm, say an ex-spouse. Hate should be reserved for crimes like mass murder. Hate should be an emotion for only the vilest of deeds. Sports should not warrant hate.

Also, sports do not have heroes. Heroes are policemen and women, EMS personnel, firefighters, and soldiers. Heroes are people who put their lives on the line to save the lives of others. Unless a sports figure actually puts him or herself in harm’s way to protect someone else, hero would not apply regardless of the ‘game changing play.’

Before anyone jumps all over my case that “I just don’t understand sports,” let me tell you a bit about myself. I grew up a sports fan. I follow sports of all kinds and can quote you stats and rosters from just about every sport (well, maybe not soccer or rugby). I was raised in an era before Title IX so my sports involvement as a young person was not participatory. Since there were no girls’ teams, I did what I could to be a part games: I kept team stats and I became official scorekeeper at many events. I do know sports.

I also understand team loyalty. I have favorite teams and I have teams I would rather not root for. I wear my “lucky” shirt on game day and I attend games. However, I don’t “hate” any team. Even teams I don’t root for are comprised of people – mostly young people just trying to better themselves. How can I “hate” that?

So regardless of the outcome of the Final Four games, life will go on. There is a huge list of things that could be worse than your favorite team losing like:

• Having a car wreck
• Losing your house to a tornado
• Having cancer
• Losing a job
• Being homeless
• Losing a spouse
• Losing your legs protecting your children
• Losing a child

~ Patty

What others see plainly, we often ignore.

From a friends email:


What others see plainly, we often ignore.

* Here's something to think about. *

I remember asking dad about Castro when I was about 9 years old. I asked,
"Is Castro a good guy or bad?"

Dad said...he couldn't tell!! This was about 1955. We were living in
Louisiana ...at the time. Dad was in the Army there.

Cuba was fairly close and in the news a lot. The Cubans were asking the same
question!

Ike was president.

This past July, we had the pleasure of sharing a summer barbecue with a
refugee from Cuba . Our dinner conversation was starkly different than most.

This refugee came to the United States as a young boy in the early 1960's.
His family was more fortunate than most, as they were able to bring a
suitcase...and $100 when they fled Castro's newly formed revolutionary
paradise.

Our dinner consisted of all-American fare: hamburgers, potato salad,
watermelon and fresh ears of sweet corn. This is a menu shared with family
and friends nationwide...while celebrating the birth of our beloved America
....on the Fourth of July.

We began with a simple discussion about our country, and the direction it
has taken since Barack Obama came to power. We shared the usual complaints
about the sour economy and liberal social engineering emanating from the
rulers in Washington.

But then he said it. The sentence came naturally. I assume it was unplanned.
But it carried the weight of a freight train. "You know when Castro took
power, none of us knew he was a Communist".

We sat stunned. He continued, "Yes, we all thought he was a patriot, a
nationalist. Before the revolution he didn't sound like a radical."

The comparison at this point was easy, and I interjected, "You mean just
like Barack Obama?"

He responded; "Yes, just like Barack Obama."

He continued, "We were all shocked as the government just continued to grab
more power. First they said the revolution is over, so please turn in your
guns. We all complied."

I remember my uncle saying after it started; “ Castro will only nationalize
some of the big industries. He will never come and take our family hardware
store!! ” But that is exactly what happened. Castro started with the sugar
mills and the large industries, but they eventually came and knocked on the
door of our family hardware store. My family had run this store for
generations. They said we now own the hardware store, you work for us. And
that nice, large four-bedroom home you own...it is now our property also,
and...you can move yourself and five children into two rooms of the house,
because others are moving in with you."

The lesson learned from this discussion, is a lesson most Americans refuse
to hear. Political leaders can lie about their agenda and once in
office...they can take totally unexpected turns.

If you had asked us three years ago if we thought General Motors would be
nationalized, we would have never believed it. We could never contemplate a
country where the rule of law, the most fundamental building block of a
justice society...would be evaporating, just like it did in Castro's Cuba in
the early 1960's.

But the news of injustice keeps increasing. Black Panthers are not charged
with wrong doing by the U.S. Department of Justice...because their crimes
are against whites. The bondholders of GM are stripped of their
assets...without due process by the government! Governmental leaders are
bribed in full daylight...only to have all investigation of the crimes
stifled...by the Attorney General.

The U.S. borders are over run with crime and illegal activity, and the
leaders in D.C. act as if it is important to protect the lawbreakers...while
the innocent are killed and over run . When local communities attempt to
enforce the law, they are ridiculed...and threatened as racists and bigots .
They are sued by the very administration...entrusted with enforcing the law
..

Without the rule of law, the U.S. Constitution is a sham!! Without the rule
of law, our beloved America is swiftly becoming a country where only the
well connected and politically powerful will be safe. As Michelle Malkin has
so eloquently explained in her recent book... a culture of corruption has
replaced honest government .

The only way this problem will be fixed, is by massive citizen action. All
honest citizens that want to be treated equally, must come together...and
demand that the favoritism, the bribes, the uneven enforcement of law...end
now!! And yes, it can happen here .


Wake up...don't be silent..that is all he needs....