On the TUNNEYSIDE of SPORTS December 28, 2015 #573 Up next…” What Sports Is All About”
After further review…People often ask me why I write about and believe in the value sports and what it brings to us. So let me share a story that was printed in “Chicken Soup for the Sports Fan’s Soul” that I co-authored a few years back. Although I have edited some of the names and places, this story illustrates why I stress the value of sports. It goes like this:
I know the day will come when a son will ask his father about the birds and the bees. Most fathers will defer that question to the mother, but many will share with their son a few of life’s other important lessons. The son may ask, “Dad, why do you like sports so much? I mean, what’s it all about for you?” And the father’s answer may be, “That’s easy. Son. It’s about eye-black, stickum, and pine tar. It’s fourth and goal, first and long, a bounce-pass to a teammate driving for a lay-up, making an eagle putt from 16-feet away. It’s divots, raspberry burns from a slide into second base, making a one-handed catch for a first down in the closing minute, or the Miracle In the Meadowlands, and it’s about the Patriots, Panthers, Seahawks or any T*E*A*M that is your favorite.”
“It’s the word T*E*A*M which means ‘Together Everyone Accomplishes More’ that makes sports so special when you realize you can’t do it by yourself. Or maybe it’s about sweaty gym socks, ballpark franks, the penalty box or the checkered flag or Wrigley Field or Yankee Stadium or the Rose Bowl or Lambeau.” It’s about…”and turning for home,” or “can you believe in miracles,” or “let’s get ready to rummmmble,” or “floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.”
Maybe it’s about “hitting the guy over-the-middle on a post pattern,” or maybe “Sunday afternoon at one p.m. on natural grass,” or” being in the ‘zone’,” or “the peanut guy who can hit you between the numbers from 12 rows down and hand you your change before you open the bag. It’s about ‘Go Army, Beat Navy’ or vice versa; it’s about the Ice Bowl, the Super Bowl or ‘The Catch’.”
“In short, son, it’s about the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat and everything in between. But, most importantly, it’s about passing all this on to your son one day as my dad did to me.”
Will you see the value of sports and how it relates to most everything you do in life?
To contact Jim, go to www.jimtunney.com or email jim@jimtunney.com.
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