If you are not a sports "affectionado", this blog will probably bore you. Well, get over it! I do think that there are lessons to be learned in sports that can be translated to everyday life.
First, the Milwaukee Brewers finally have a competitive ball club. As much as I dislike their high prices and extortion fees for food and memoriabilia, they do have reasonable entertainment. It has been a long time since I memorized batting averages of several players on the ball club. In the 1950's, I could tell you the current averages and home run totals of Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews. Now I memorize Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun. I guess my "roots" back to baseball have something to do with it.
Second, the golf season officially kicks off this week with the Master's Golf Tournament. This is the ultimate in snob appeal because Augusta National Golf Course is private and the members list reads like a "Who's who" in business. People like Warren Buffet, the richest person in the world belongs to a golf course he probably never uses. It is not about golf. It is about creating a place in the world that every golfer dreams about. So I will watch as 150 of the world's best golfers try to carve out their piece of their personal snob appeal. Tiger Woods is favored. His secret is that he is the best putter on the planet. Can golf season be far away?
I watched Kansas eek out an overtime win over Memphis in the NCAA Championship game. The lessons are that people perform differently under pressure. Some people excel. Some people tighten up. There are plenty of "brain farts" to go around as decisions have to be made in the heat of battle. Does it get any better?
And then, if you like sports and you are a guy, this gift would interest you. It is the ultimate. The New York Yankees are building a new stadium and it will be completed by year end. The original stadium was built in 1923 and witnessed the likes of Babe Ruth, Joe Dimagio, Lou Gerhig, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and many others. They are going to auction off the memoriabilia from the old stadium. If you bought the urinal from the Yankees locker room (probably cost over $10,000) and install it in your bathroom, you could claim to pee where many greats have in the past. My Dad would say "if you run with the tall dogs, you have to pee like the big dogs". So if you had the Yankee urinal, everytime you went to the bathroom you would be "standing tall".
There aren't many meaningful lessons here Grasshoppers. Just enjoy the entertainment.
Love,
Dad