Realigning Priorities

I love sports. I love playing sports. I love watching sports.

In my younger days, my brother and I played every sport imaginable in our back yard or front yard. We played baseball in the spring and summer, football in the fall, and basketball in the winter (remember, being from south Alabama, my exposure to “Yankee” sports like hockey was non-existent. And who in the world ever created Lacrosse? My mother would never let my brother and me run around with sticks in our hands!

Anyway, we played some type of game almost 365 days a year. As I got older, I played some intramural football in college. I’ve played pick-up basketball games for years with various friends. I’ve played church league softball. As I said, I love sports.

Now, as I get older and the demand for me to play is no longer there, I’ve come to learn that my playing days are over (well, demand may have been too strong a word to put there—not sure there was ever a demand for me to play—but since this is my blog, I’ll leave it!)

So, now I watch sports. I’ll watch baseball, football, basketball. I’ll even watch tennis and golf if nothing else is on. Truth be told, I’d probably watch a competition where men (or women for that matter) threw manhole covers across the room! Did I say that I love sports?

But, out of respect and love for my wife, I limit my sports watching. I’ll try to scope out a game or two that I’d like to watch over the weekend, and limit my watching to that game or games. If my beloved University of Alabama is playing (as they are this weekend) I know I want to see them. If there is another great game scheduled for the weekend, I’ll at least try to work that one into my agenda for the weekend. Other than that, I try to let the rest of it go.

But, it is hard to do. It really is. I love to watch sports. Not sure why that is so engrained in me, but it is. I never watched sports on TV as a kid, then again, there weren’t many games shown on TV in those days, or at least I don’t remember there being that many.

I think what it comes down to is the fact that I simply love to watch people competing. I like the thrill of victory and despise the agony of defeat. I love to watch athletics giving their best on the field, leaving everything there for the game’s sake. I love watching people use their God-given strengths in sports, and I guess I am just a little jealous that God didn’t bless me with those same skills and abilities.

So, this Saturday, at 11:30 AM CDT, I’ll be watching the University of Alabama play the razorbacks from Arkansas. I’ll be pulling for my team, screaming at the top of my lungs for them to win!

Then again, if my wife needs me to do something for her or if she’d rather not be a “football widow” for the afternoon, I’ll probably just skip the game and read about it in Sunday’s paper. If we buy a Sunday paper.

After all, in 10 years who will care if Alabama wins or loses? Well, of course, there will be some in our fair state who will, but don’t count me in with that number. There are more important things than college football, or professional football, or tennis, or baseball.

Sure, I love sports. But, I love other things more.

How about you?