Go With It
April 30, 2012
One of my counterparts in another state asked me last week, “How do you do it?” He meant, how do I find time to prepare two blog postings every week; and he also meant, how do I find topics for 104 postings each year; and he also meant, how do I go about the actual writing?
As for finding time, it’s no problem; because writing helps me think. It helps me clarify and prioritize. And going public with these thoughts helps me be more certain that I’m committed to the ideas. For me, writing daily is as important as breathing deeply.
As for finding topics, it’s rarely a problem. I find subject matter in what I read, what I hear and what I observe in everyday life and worldwide travel. And I’ve discovered that the richest sources for writing about school sports are often found the furthest from school sports.
And as for the actual technique, I go about it this way: I try to provide a plain circle, and then invite readers to color it however they wish, to use any shade they prefer, to color outside the lines if they think that’s most beneficial to their situation.
When we were children we were praised for coloring within the lines and utilizing the appropriate shades for sun, sky, grass and flowers. These days I just want to provide a blank circle and ask, “What can you do with that?” Not dictating what readers should do, but inviting readers to take an idea and do with it what they will where they live, work and play.
At least that’s what I want to do.
Sportsmanship in our Bones
January 3, 2013
When my younger son was playing soccer – he was seven or eight years old at the time – he tumbled out of bounds and down a little hill. When he climbed back up the slope to the soccer pitch he was covered in burrs.
As he began to delicately remove the prickly burrs, play resumed – except that one player on the opposing team, the player marking my son, stopped to assist my son in removing the prickers. And he continued to help my son until all the burrs were removed. Only then did the two of them rejoin the game, together.
Observing this profoundly shaped my belief that sportsmanship is not dead. It’s not out of date and it’s not out of style. Good sporting behavior is in our bones, in our DNA.
Even before they can pronounce the word, and long before they can define it, kids know what sportsmanship is.
Change the rules in the middle of a game with six, seven or eight year olds – any card game, board game or sports game – and they’ll shout, “Hey, that’s not fair!” We must assure that natural instinct is still demonstrative when they are 16, 17 and 18 year olds.