For those of you who know me really well, you know that I have one true passion outside of my family life...sports, soccer to be exact. I have always been intrigued by the pull that sports has on our lives, but when does it pull too much?
I've been known to go to a sporting event on or around Michelle's birthday. It was always justified by getting her a ticket and going out for dinner after the game. Probably the highlight of our trip to London was going to a Fulham v Manchester City game with Michelle and some of our friends...NOT going to see Big Ben or Westminster Abbey. I am a pretty nonchalant human being by nature, but on the pitch I become someone completely different...so involved and wrapped up in it all. But can you blame me??? There is a reason they call it the "beautiful game"!
"Goals have a rarity value that points and runs and sets do not, and so there will always be that thrill, the thrill of seeing someone do something that can only be done three or four times in a whole game if you are lucky. And I love the pace of it, its lack of formula; and I love the way that small men can destroy big men in a way that they can't in other contact sports, and the way that the best team does not necessarily win. And there's the athleticism, and the way that strength and intelligence have to combine. It allows players to look beautiful and balletic in a way that some sports do not; a perfectly-timed diving header, or a perfectly-struck volley...but there's even more to it than all that. During matches there is a powerful sensation of being exactly in the right place at the right time. When else does that happen in life?"
This quotation is from the book Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby who describes with great accuracy the inner battle between life and sport through his experiences with Arsenal Football Club in North London. I also found humor in the way Hornby so eloquently described similar situations I've been in, and decisions I've made that to an outsider would seem insane....
"As I get older, the tyranny that football exerts over my life, and therefore over the lives of people around me, is less reasonable and less attractive. Family and friends know, after long years of wearying experience, that the fixture list always has the last word in any arrangement; they understand, or at least accept, that christenings or weddings or any gatherings, which in other families would take unquestioned precedence, can only be plotted after consultation. So football is regarded as a given disability that has to be worked around. If I were wheelchair-bound, nobody close to me would organise anything in a top-floor flat, so why would they plan anything for a winter Saturday afternoon."
In no way do I believe that my obsession is as bad as others, and I'm glad that I have lessened the impact of sports in my life over the last couple of years. Case in point, instead of going to the RSL game in San Jose this March, I'll be going on an anniversary trip with the love of my life! Seems like a pretty good trade off, but don't think I didn't squirm inside a bit when making this decision or even try to fit both the game and trip into our schedule.
So tell me, when have sports overtaken your life??? What are you now doing differently, or will you go on this way forever??? I've made some personal changes, but the pull of sport will always have a strong grip on the arm of my replica jersey!
