This post is derived from a brief essay I wrote ten years ago before I had ever heard the term “blog,” though it definitely reads like a blog post. It was fun to open it back up as this was about two years after I finished running at WSU and two years before I started coaching. It was dated October 14, 2002 and has been edited for clarity.
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Two things the last couple days got me thinking about this. First, a friend came by my apartment in Wichita Saturday night and we ended up talking about workouts, specifically lifting and running. As I began to suggest running workouts for him to do, I got more and more excited, just because I don’t talk about it much and I got to feel like a coach for a little bit. Second, yesterday was a great day of football. The Chiefs lost and I was actually getting nervous near the end as I was cheering for San Diego. Then, feeling the intense urge to watch the Broncos game, and not having cable or anyone around to go to a sports bar with, I went to Cheney to watch the game at my parents’ house. For those of you who didn’t see it, it was a great game. By the fourth quarter, I had become so emotionally invested in the game that my pulse had increased and I was pacing. I’m not the type of fan who yells or throws things, so I was doing so silently. The game came down to the final minute. The Broncos hit a 55 yard field goal with 40 seconds to go, but then the Dolphins, with two time outs remaining, were able to get into range for a game-winning 53-yard field goal. Being a die hard Broncos fan it was a proverbial roller coaster of emotional experience.
Now, the point of this entire rant. On the drive back to Wichita, I realized more important than the Broncos winning or losing was simply the experience one undergoes when personally invested in a sporting event. That whether you are a fan or a participant, sports allow you to feel angry, happy, sad, excited, fatigued, etc., and in such a way that, if you are aware of it, can only have positive influences on your everyday life.
When people ask me if I actually enjoy running, I say, “not all the time, but what’s better than running is having ran.” Sports allow you to test the limits of yourself, mind, body, and soul, to see what you are capable of, better than any other experience that is so readily available.
So, get off your butt. Quit reading and writing email. Get out there and play. I know it can be hard to motivate yourself and you may not feel like playing. But remember, you won’t be able to play forever, so do it while you can. There’s nothing better than playing.
Except maybe having played.
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Thanks for indulging me in that little flashback, but I think it holds up especially as we’re back in the middle of football season. And, yesterday, we had a cross country meet in Oxford where my boys finished 2nd, just four points behind Clearwater. It was one of those meets where we knew it was down to those two teams, but didn’t know who won until the presentation of the plaques. Obviously, I really wanted to win, but it was fun just to be involved in a close, exciting contest. Next week my boys will try to defend their win from last year at Halstead.