Sport and My Mom's Wisdom

My mom isn't an athlete. I don't even think she likes sports. But sport and her patient acceptance of it saved my life.

So thanks Mom, for being you, and for giving me, David, Natalie, Andrew, Sarah, Meghan, Hannah, Melanie, and Sport so much of your love.

Dear Rachel,

I hope you play better today. But I hope more that you enjoy your play today. This might upset you but I was never really into winning or losing. I always loved watching you play, when you were just playing the game and using your own abilities, and when the object of the game is to get the ball into the goal, and you play just to get it in goal, not to add up a score but to get it into the goal. I loved the goals they always gave me chills, not because they made you win but because it is the object of the game. And just as much, I love when you are playing to keep the goals from the other team, and you work so hard to block them because it is the object of the game not because you don't want to lose. I love that too.

It is so funny I used to pray for you guys to win games or for me to win the lottery, but as I grew I realized that they weren't good prayers because if my prayers were answered it may change the outcome of a better life, but maybe losing a game or not having a ton of money makes us who we are. So now I pray to have the outcome be whatever is best for who ever is involved and I trust that we will get through it together.

Love Your Momma

Happy Birthday Mom and Happy Mother's Day. My life is what it is because of you - an absolute blessing. I love you.

Comments

America's Got Talent, Not Time

Let's take a dive into the talent pool. America’s got talent. A lot of talent. What it doesn’t have though is time and a cohesive system to identify and develop that talent to maturity. The short timeline for the development of talent undermines the country's ability to succeed at the highest level. A multitude of factors play a role, yet the most influential is the win now mentality driven by the demands of college and youth sport. This mentality - and the money behind it - dominates the American sport landscape; it leads to early selection and deselection, myopic views of talent, and the narrowing of the playing pool before most athletes have time to emerge and fully develop. Recruiting accelerates the timeline. We expect more from athletes at an earlier age. We evaluate them at an earlier age. We select and deselect them at an earlier age. The consequence is that an abundance of talent drops out of the pathway, or goes unidentified and undeveloped. A number of factor...

Land of Lore

In Dublin, Ireland at the Champions Challenge, an International field hockey tournament. Here's my take on Ireland, the Land of Lore. There are some places I really like. Ireland is one of them. Not sure why. Maybe it’s that quirky Eye-ish twang – “I-dink-day-cullit Ingish” or those abundant rolling hills of lush green. Heck, maybe, it’s just the Guinness - I love an impeccably smooth pint. Whatever it is, it enchants me. There’s something special about the people here. The Irish are made of durable character, modest in their work and tireless in their effort. They are refreshingly practical in their perspective - humorously stoic yet deviously witty. Aside from the red hair, freckles, and fair complexion, most of the Irish are equipped with three things - a good sense of humor, a solid imagination, and a strong liver. It's Darwinism at its finest - these genetic traits are survival necessities - the daily weather is absolutely abysmal...

Back on Track

Apologies dear readers, if any of you happen to exist. I seem to have strayed terribly far from my original purpose, which I assume, by virtue of the blog title, had something to do with the Athlete Experience. I have led you on a meandering path toward a cliff of randomness. And I have asked you to jump from that cliff into the oblivion of utter meaninglessness. I have failed wholeheartedly to keep you properly adrift of the athletic experience that matters to me, the way that has become my means - my mode of exploration, my celebration of humanity, and my form of art. And that is the way of the Red, White, and Blue. The Stars and Stripes. The United States of America. With a field hockey stick, a ball, and my teammates. I serve the greatest country in the world. So here is my attempt to rectify my failure, reclaim your readership and get back on track. Now seems like the best place for the beginning of that quest. The time reads 6:28 AM IST, Irish Stand...

The Athlete Way

Search This Blog