Why We Play
By Brian Elder
The spirit to play can not be contained by a shelter in place or stay at home protocol.
With the stay at home orders and the social distancing protocols many of us are getting used to something completely new, life without sports. We have come to realize what a gift, even a luxury, it is to follow, attend, and play our beloved games. In times of crisis it is appropriate for these things to take a back seat, and it was right that with the utmost caution and responsibility that all the major sports organizations and leagues suspended play. There were no games for the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend as they were supposed to open their season on the road in Cincinnati. No basketball brackets to fill out. No end to the winter season sports and no real beginning to the spring season. Frozen.
We realize it’s not just the “major” sports that have left the arenas. Mizzou’s long distance champion Karissa Schweizer has her Olympic dreams on hold. The women’s hockey team at Ohio State, fresh off their program’s first ever WCHA championship, leaves the rink holding the trophy but without the chance to play Minnesota in the NCAA tournament. On down the line, it is tough to imagine how seniors in college or high school are feeling given how seasons or even athletic careers have come to an end. You can prepare for a game, a tournament, and the chance of victory or defeat. An expected outcome is what makes sports a comforting distraction to the normal routine of life with the presumption that tomorrow you will play again.
For parents and younger kids, the absence of organized sports is pretty tough. Like many other kids, my two boys are upset, settling into the idea of no soccer, no flag football, and no baseball for an unforeseeable time. I know my third grader would like nothing better than to go toe to toe on the playground or in practice with one of his buddies. Adults are in the same boat. I’m longing for my Saturday morning basketball games with fellow teachers and professionals up at school, the south city softball league is on hold, and I can’t tell you how much I miss coaching my youth teams and acting like every play was the end all be all of sports moments.
In the absence we have simplified things down. We go for a family run in the mornings as part of the kids P.E. class, we take a mid-day recess to shoot hoops or ride bikes around the neighborhood, and in the evenings there’s a family wiffle ball game or flag football game. Inside we are going through about every board game we either own or have inherited. We are not alone in this. Looking out across our neighborhood families are out and about. Whole families are kicking soccer balls, jumping on trampolines, going for walks, and playing. The essential truth that we are rediscovering about sports and activities is that they are meant to be played, organized or not, professional or simply the younger siblings (mom and Charlie) versus the older brothers (me and Will).
Isn’t this how it was supposed to be the whole time, a shared experience that brings us together. The spirit to play can not be contained by a shelter in place or stay at home protocol. All of us are now having family game nights via Zoom or Google Hangouts, we are playing darts using online scoring apps, we are sharing recipes and backyard highlights. With the obligatory six feet of caution, the parks and trails are pleasantly occupied for now here in St. Louis. Without a daily top ten in sports, we are making our own. It’s actually nothing new, and as we play we are remembering why we participate in sports in the first place. We are connected back to the games of the past, the horseshoe pits with Grandpa Roy, the riddles and puzzles with Uncle Ed, the hole in one your father-in-law dropped and the celebration dance that ensued.
Uncle George versus Uncle Jim
Before I had a uniform or a league to play in there was one on one with Dad outback or playing a game of catch where I either threw it over his head or short hopped him in the shin or worse. My Uncle George was a heck of a college basketball player, but the New Jersey blacktop battles between him and Uncle Jim were legendary. A family relic is a picture of a jump shot suspended in time. Swish? Block? Foul? Only Uncle Bob, who took the picture, really knows what happened. Those are the plays that stand the test of the time and endure and we can make those plays now even though no one is really keeping the score. Well…, maybe we are keeping score.
Today is my dad’s birthday. In the past that usually means a round of golf. When the travel works out my brother joins us from Minneapolis. How it all unfolds is getting pretty familiar. My brother Sean, plays slow and steady and wins by at least four strokes, Dad brings the club maximum in his bag unveiling a new “flop” shot that he promises would be working fine if we had warmed up properly, and I spray the golf ball all over the course and beyond. I’ve been known to bank shots off the occasional house or moving car. Wii golf will have to suffice this year. The point is we play.
The big takeaway is that while we endure our time cooped up in our homes we have to remember to make a concerted effort to play. We can not wait for the leagues and the seasons to return. They all will eventually. The silver lining is that so many of us are blessed to have the opportunity to grab a ball, a mitt, or your gear of choice and get out there. All of us have the innate desire to play and in doing so we can collectively lift our spirits. I’m planning some wiffle ball this afternoon against my boys, I feel a no-hitter coming. We will be sure to share the highlights. Happy Birthday Dad.
