I’ve always loved sports. My earliest memories are of weekends spent sitting on my dad’s lap, watching boxing and baseball on TV. But that affinity wasn’t imprinted on me solely through my experiences as a child—it’s hardwired into my DNA.
My maternal grandmother’s brother Emery and his wife Isabelle—known to us as Uncle Ham and Aunt Issie (spelled with s’s, but pronounced “Izzie”)—were pro athletes in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, she as a member of the St. Louis All-Stars professional girls’ basketball team, he a baseball player who spent ten years in the minors and another ten years with the House of David baseball team. During his time with the Yankees’ AAA affiliate in Buffalo, he traveled with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. After his playing days he became an umpire, calling balls and strikes for the likes of Satchel Paige, Hank Aaron - who he always respectfully referred to as Henry - and other big-league greats.
On my dad’s side of the family, one of my first cousins once removed played pro football in the 1980s, then moved on to coaching. He appeared in three Super Bowls as a player, and has, so far—he’s still working in the NFL—earned three Super Bowl rings as a coach.
I’ll watch (almost) any sporting event, but NFL football is my favorite. I’ll absolutely be in front of the TV watching the playoff games this Sunday, but I’m facing a huge dilemma about who to root for in the NFC title game between the Green Bay Packers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Packers are division rivals of my beloved Chicago Bears, so I’m not inclined to root for them. But I’m not a Buccaneers fan either, even though I live in the Metro Tampa area now.
Because so many of my family members are or were deeply involved in sports, I became conditioned to look at more than just what players and coaches do on the field. Their stories and experiences—who they are as human beings and what they say and do off the field—are as important as their stats. And that makes Sunday’s NFC game complicated for me.
Let me pause for one second and say this: If you’ve read this far, thank you! I realize not everyone is a sports junkie like I am. You may not care who wins the NFC title game on Sunday. You may not give a flying fig about American football—preferring soccer or baseball or NASCAR or golf or something else entirely. You may not like sports of any kind. That’s ok. Here’s why this is still important:
The same criteria I use to weigh who gets my attention in the sports world applies to each and every one of us. Who we are as human beings—what we say and do, and how we say and do it—matters. In any and every circumstance.
Amanda Gorman’s reading of her poignant and compelling poem The Hill We Climb during the US Presidential Inauguration this past Wednesday reaffirmed this for me.
I loved it all, but the line that resonated most deeply with me was this one:
“The new dawn blooms as we free it,” (emphasis mine).
That—to me—is another way of articulating how important what we say and do and how we treat ourselves and each other is. Simply put, our words, actions, and interactions either “free the new dawn and allow and encourage it to bloom,” or they don’t.
I’m asking those questions all over again today—of myself, and about everything: What am I saying and doing, and how am I saying and doing it? Am I regarding myself and others with dignity and respect? Are my words and deeds helping that new dawn to bloom, or stopping it in its tracks?
“He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6:8 NIV
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