Compensation

I am not a huge sports fan. I have zero athletic ability although I like to be active. Phys. Ed. class was an excersize in torture when I was a kid. If I could have spent the class climbing trees, skipping rope, rowing a boat, or hiking for miles I'd have been fine. But no, it always involved putting some implement in my hand and requiring me to make contact with some other object, or throwing a ball in a very specific spot. And then some macho ape teacher dripping in testosterone (this description works for the female PE teachers I had too) would berate me for my inabilty to do this activity.

I once had a boyfriend INSIST I learn to play golf. It wasn't that I had no desire to share his interest. I just knew it would be hopeless. I gave in and he was screaming at me by the third hole. I warned you! Another friend thought it would be fun to play raquetball together. She was low-key. I trusted her to be gentle even though I'd be locked in a box where the ball would careen off every surface and most likely hit me. I didn't realize her fiance was bloodthirsty and figured I could be playing at world class level with a mere introduction to the game. I caught a ball with my face. That was fun!

I was mortified to learn college had a PE requirement. Oh well, at least I could pick what classes to take. My personal criteria for selecting PE classes were no pushups (can't do em), no team sports (I wasn't about to subject myself to more abuse for loosing a game), and no distance running (bad experiences in Jr Hi with out of control asthma and PE teachers who told me to push through it). Fencing, Karate, and Modern Dance met my criteria and I actually enjoyed all of them. I even came in second in the class fencing tournament. Woohoo! I actually played intramural volleyball all through college too because there was an unusually tolerant team who needed players and were ok with my low level of ability, it was about fun and camaraderie for them.

Mr. Lime likes tennis and I agreed to learn to play. He taught me without screaming at me. How refreshing! I was thrilled. I still had zero skill but I enjoyed dinking the ball back and forth over the net and spending time with him. He decided I was not worth playing tennis with because I was so horrible at it I bored him to tears. We thought we'd try caving and rock climbing. Never got too far with that I think because I showed some small measure of skill and was less bothered by ledges and heights than he was. There's no satisfying some people.

I give you all the background because I am willing to admit my perception may be skewed by mostly negative experience.

So now Isaac plays baseball. He loves this game. I've learned to appreciate it. I can love watching his games where I only tolerate MLB games. Like any normal kid, he wants to win, but he's reasonably gracious in defeat. So he had a game this weekend. It was to finish a game started last weekend, a game started in the rain. It was not a gentle, warm drizzle. It was a cold, constant drip that left everyone drenched and chilled to the bone.

They played because the opposing coach is one of these diehard lunatics that would not forfeit or reschedule a game unless he were beaten nearly unconcious with a bat. This guy sends out obnoxious emails to every coach and official in the league after every game so he can whine about some perceived rules infraction all the while bending and breaking every rule he can. So Sunday they had to finish the game that was started last week in the rain even though every other coach in the league would have called the half a game a complete game and let people get on with life. Last week our guys were ahead and this other team is undefeated and has a coach out for blood. Neanderthal man couldn't deal with that. He is undefeated after all. He wound up winning today. I listened to this guy berate his players for mistakes and whine like a child about every little thing he thought our coaches were doing wrong. I swear I was a hair's breadth away from walking up to him and asking, 'Is your dick so small that the only way you can feel good about yourself is by sucking every bit of fun out of a game being played by 8-10 year olds? Shut up and let the kids play!'

Maybe I'm crazy, but for grade school kids playing organized sports I think it should be about learning fundamentals of the game, developing skills and sportsmanship, and having a ton of fun. I don't go in for the touchy feely, remove all elements of competition, but can we please not make it a pissing match? Is it just me?