To continue the thought from last post, I am going through a few of my favorites for you. I'm trying to spin a little of my life history along the way.
Sports (continued):
In my last post, I mostly discussed soccer which is surely my top favorite. And, it's sort of natural that it would be since it's the only sport I ever played with any success. But I also mentioned that Baseball was also a favorite of mine. That's a different story.
I like baseball because its a thinking man's sport. It has elements of team competition as well as personal competition. The player has to be anticipating what will happen next and how his teammates will react. When in the field, the player is a part of the whole. But at the plate, a player is not only supporting his team, he is also competing against his own best record as well as all the players that came before. He stands on his own and faces the opposition of the pitcher and the uncertainty of the pitch. Added to these aspects is the fact that the coach must use a great deal of strategy when deciding which player to field. Left-handed batters, the pitcher's personal style, and the special abilities of each player must be weighed as the game progresses.
To those who think baseball is to slow, I would suggest that they either don't know how the game is played, or they just don't like to think. Basketball has blazing speed and thuggish brutality; football has macho impact and tons of strategy. But for me, I prefer baseball.
But not because I ever played it with any success. My earliest recollection of baseball is a game played in second or third grade at Mauldin Elementary. I wasn't a member of a team, so it was either a pick-up game or a game played at recess. Whatever the reason, the thing that stands out is that I got beaned in the forehead while batting. Of course, every rushed over to see if I was hurt, and I cried. I remember the embarrassment of both the fact that I got hit and that I cried. I couldn't help it, I guess. I certainly knew that I would be picked on because of it, and I was. I'm sure I played a few more games while in school. I don't remember anything about playing. I do remember that I was usually picked last for whatever game we were playing, be it dodge ball, red rover, or kickball. Sports was never my strong point.
If you consider Tae Kwon Do a sport, I did enjoy learning it and took lessons for about a year while I was going to Greenville Technical College. I earned a yellow belt and was working on my brown belt when I quit taking. I imagine that was about the time I started dating a hot blond at the Ingles Deli counter. ;-)
Love ya. Good night.
