Reflections from a Minor League Ballpark

I haven’t written a “scattered thought from my scattered brain” kind of post in a while, so why not!

The 2024 Olympics are wrapping up in a few days & I’ve only actually watched about 15 minutes of coverage. When I think about it, that says so much about not just how my life has changed but our collective lives as well!

When Jim & I were growing up (150 years ago if you ask our boys), we really did only have 3 major tv networks plus PBS to choose from. There were no cell phones, no internet… You get the picture, it was the dark ages!

BUT that meant everyone was tuned in to the same stuff. We grew up pretending that we were Olympic athletes in whatever sport was our favorite or was getting the most coverage. We didn’t have to be involved in the sport on a regular basis or even be athletic, but we could still look up to the athletes and appreciate their abilities.  I feel sorry for today’s athletes that they don’t get that from the general public & today’s kids.

The athletes (and their families) competing these days have still sacrificed so much to get where they are, & there are so many others who have given it their all and just not made the grade. They are representing their country with pride and honor & it seems like we should be paying more attention.

It makes me sad that some have taken the Olympics to a political level & used it for other purposes. In my mind this disrespects the effort & spirit of the games and sport in general.

I consider our family a “baseball family”. I’m writing right now from Dunkin’ Park in Hartford, CT. It’s the home of the Hartford Yard Goats, the Colorado Rockies AA farm team. Nolan got invited to a play here with other kids from around the Northeast. All of our boys played baseball at some level, and soccer in the fall. I like to think they’re growing up to be honorable, hard-working men and I give playing team sports a lot of credit for that!

Last night we listened to several local college coaches talk about what they look for in players they want to recruit. Obviously they have to be good at baseball, but they also talked about being good humans & good teammates, guys who are always trying to be better in all aspects of their lives. Not a bad recipe for success on any level!

I warned you this was scattered! I think the truth I’m trying to pull from all of this is that there is more value than the obvious in learning to play a game or sport. It doesn’t need to be Olympic level, or even a team sport, but at some point in our lives being involved in sports makes us better people.

Play ball!