Life-Sports

A base­ball game is a lit­tle like a fam­ily argu­ment. Sev­eral peo­ple lis­ten to a ver­bal con­test between two peo­ple (the pitcher and the bat­ter). They are wait­ing to see which way the con­ver­sa­tion goes to fig­ure out what to do next. It is also like just about any board meet­ing in the world — few actual par­tic­i­pants but many on-lookers. The ones not so directly involved will play their respec­tive roles when the ball comes their way.

Foot­ball is a lot like work­ing for a com­pany or a non-profit orga­ni­za­tion. The quar­ter­back is the CEO or key leader. The com­pet­ing teams are sim­i­larly orga­nized and have the same goal as your team — to win no mat­ter what it takes. The plays can be com­plex. On any given play the CEO can be a hero or scape­goat. He is usu­ally some sort of masochist will­ing to get clob­bered in hopes of some great (and almost mirac­u­lous) suc­cess. When he fails the crowd boos or he leaves the sta­dium in sham­ing silence (large groups are more prim­i­tive than smaller groups or individuals).

Soc­cer is for those of us with Atten­tion Deficit Dis­or­der. All sorts of run­ning around goes on but with very few actual scores. Per­son­ally, I do not watch soc­cer. It dri­ves me crazy. The game looks too much like my desk — chaos and lots of sweat­ing but always a frus­trat­ing goalie to block what­ever needs to be accom­plished (inter­rup­tions, my own inabil­ity to stay focused, and the unpre­dictable nature of people).

Bas­ket­ball is fun to play and watch. It is per­fect for those of us that have always been hyper­ac­tive. No mat­ter where the ball goes, ten peo­ple are run­ning toward it. It is a high scor­ing game in which a player switches from offense to defense at any given sec­ond. I love bas­ket­ball. It allows for wild shots and is sup­posed to be a no con­tact sport (much unlike foot­ball or hockey). As a game, it is like putting one piece of food in a box with ten mice and shak­ing the box while they scram­ble for the rolling piece of cheese. The sit­u­a­tion changes by the second.

Hockey is merely soc­cer on ice…Attention Deficit Dis­or­der peo­ple like me that have had way too much caffeine.

By the time today is over, I will com­pare numer­ous events and sit­u­a­tions to sports. I will laugh at the par­al­lels. The game of life really is a game. Peo­ple play it with all sorts of vary­ing styles. I play to win. The final buzzer can be on any given day, so I play each day with all of my might.