Sports

This is a speech I prepared for an ATM project. You may use it as is, but I believe it will prove more useful as an idea generator.

If you like this work, please let me know -- like all creative souls, I really appreciate knowing someone was able to use my effort. You can also e-mail me an idea or two of your own. I'll add it to my page and give you proper credit.

Sports

Introduction

As I reflect on my life, I am struck by a thought: many of the lessons I’ve learned have come from the sports I’ve played. I thought you’d like to hear some of those lessons.

Baseball

As a child, I played Little League baseball. I often heard the words, "Catch it, George." These were usually followed by, "Pick it up, George." "Throw it in, George. . . .Can’t you throw it any farther than that?"

I was even worse at batting than fielding. It always seemed to be foolish to stand there and let someone throw a hard object at me. And it always came in so fast! I usually ran away. I discovered I could cover about 15 feet in about 2 seconds. Of course, it was hard to hit a baseball with a bat that was only three feet long when I was standing about 15 feet away. Needless to say, I didn’t get many hits.

I once was playing a game in an empty lot near home. I ran home after a short time and told Mom that we were losing 20-0. She said that she was sorry. I told her to not worry, we hadn’t come up to bat, yet!

I did learn a most important lesson from baseball, though. The player who hits a home run has to be willing to risk being hit by the ball. If you are not willing to risk your money, time, emotions, and love for what you believe in, you will never know the joy of success.

Football

Somewhere in my youth, I learned to love football. I used to watch my high school heroes when I was in Junior High School. I would marvel at their moves and the athletic ability of the players. I did notice, though, something very upsetting. Sometimes, one of the players couldn’t walk off the field without assistance. This did not seem to be too smart to me. So, I did the only thing I knew to do: I went into management!

As the team’s equipment manager, I found I could really enjoy football without sacrificing my health and welfare. There I was, at every game, doing my management task. That means I would run out on the field after we kicked the ball and grab the tee. Boy, was I good at that. I could run out on the field, do that cute, little right body dip, scoop up the tee, and be back off the field quicker than a lightening strike. Of course, I’d always pause in the center of the field just long enough to let my girlfriend see me – then I’d dash off. I suppose I didn’t make any touchdowns, but then I also have the same knees I was born with – and all the parts inside those knees are where they belong.

I learned that "he also serves who silently stands and waits." My contribution to our football team was never too spectacular, nor was it every too publicized. But, I feel that I did contribute to our success by simply being there to help whenever I was needed.

Football Official

When I grew a bit older, I decided to stick with football by becoming an official. Generally, officials can be around the game they love but not risk personal injury. However, I was not a very bright official. I chose to work the position of "Umpire." The umpire is the official you may see on TV who is in the middle of the football field, behind the defensive line. Whenever you see a massive pile-up in the center of the field, and officials disentangle all the players; the Umpire is the crumpled, bloody, mess that was on the bottom in a shallow indent in the center of the field.

I was lucky to be hit only one time. I had turned my back on the players to watch the ball carrier zip past me, when I was hit from behind. Three or four players fell on me as we all hit the ground. I will say that it was a wonderful block for the ball carrier! When the chief official got to me, he rolled me over on my back and shouted at me "George, are you OK?" I groaned "yes." So, he held his hand up in front of me and asked "How many fingers am I holding up." I said "Two," though I couldn’t even focus on the referee, much less how many fingers he was holding up. I must have been right, though, because the rest of the crew stood me up and the game began again. One of the Umpire’s jobs in a game is to count the number of players on the offense. I couldn’t do that. Sometimes there were two or three of each player! I wasn’t hit again that night, but I never knew if it was because the players took pity on me or because with my wobbly stance it was just too hard for them to hit a moving target.

I once called a youth football game. Midway through the game, I called one of the players over and said, "You know that we teach good sportsmanship, that everyone is a winner, and you should be proud if you’ve done your best." He said he knew that already. So I asked him to go to the sidelines and tell his Mom that!

I once knew a player who had a glass eye. He was hit hard during one play and his glass eye popped out. We stopped the game so he could take care of himself. He found his glass eye, washed it off, then popped it back into his head. "Wow," I said, "That takes a lot of guts. What will you do if you injure your other eye?" He replied, "That’s easy, I’ll become a referee like you."

Once we had to play a game during a driving rain storm. After the coin toss, the team captain had to designate which way he wanted to kick. "We’ll kick with the tide," he said.

I once heard that Satan challenged St. Peter to a football game. Peter told him that all the best ball players were in heaven, they’d be certain to win. "Yes," Satan replied, "but I have all the referees in hell."

I learned an awful lot from my officiating days. Probably the most important lesson was to play by the rules. It’s possible to cheat in football, like any game, like life itself. However, if you cheat to win, you never really know how good you could have been if you had played by the rules. In life, you can cheat; but if you do, you’ll never reach your full potential. You’ll always just be a cheater.

Running

I’ve been running for many years now. I’ve been in two marathons and many other shorter races. I normally run about 40 miles every week. That’s a lot of rubber off the old tennis shoes!

When I started running, someone told me that running would add 10 years to my life. He was right. I feel 10 years older every time I start.

I once met a woman who was out running like the devil was after her. I sped up and chatted with her a few steps. I remarked that she was running awfully fast. She said she was working off frustration at her husband. I asked if she had considered a divorce. "Not yet," she said, "I want to get to 105 first."

My wife doesn’t worry about me talking to women as I run. She saw the way I dress to take a run. She figures no one would let me in the door dressed like that.

I’ve learned so much from running. The most important lesson, though, is to keep putting one foot in front of the other if you want to cross the finish line. Only take one step at a time.

Conclusion

Well, there you have it. Sports tell the tale of my life. I would challenge you to consider the sports you’ve played. What lessons did you learn?

George R. Self
E-mail me at: grself@c2i2.com

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