Article IX

" Sports is Good for Your Health "

I have been accused of wasting my time following sports, and to a lesser extent, wasting my time playing sports. Which causes me to revisit my life, and ponder some serious questions:

1. Is following sports a constructive use of one's time?
2. Is having detailed knowledge of statistics of sporting events and teams a constructive use of one's time?
3. Is playing sports a constructive use of one's time.


I will answer number 3 first, and then address the other two. First, clearly playing sports is valuable in that it allows one to get valuable exercise s/he would not get by watching others play, or by reading a book, or by eating/sleeping/working, etc. Of course, like all activities, there is a limit to how much is constructive, and at what point it no longer provides the health benefits. But there are other elements to playing sports that are important to consider:

1. Playing sports is usually a social activity. Thus, one learns to get along with other people if s/he wants to enjoy a game. It is critical in a child's development to learn to get along with others, to share the ball, etc. Sports allows people the opportunity to practice getting along with those who bother them, and those who they like, a skill that is crucial when joining the workforce.

2. People of all colors, ethnicities, and nationalities come together under one roof, rubbing shoulders, elbows (and other body parts), in an effort to get close to others who support a similar cause. People tend to learn about others from different backgrounds when they play on the same team.

3. Playing ball teaches about the rewards of sacrificing for the team. Not to go all George Will on my readership, but have you ever noticed that with a man on first, if I hit a ground ball to second (while trying to get a base hit), and the second baseman throws to first, it counts as an out for me (0 for 1) while if I bunt the man over to second, I am still out, but it doesn't count as an (0 for 1) in my batting stats? That is an example of rewarding the player who intentionally sacrifices for the team!

4. Sports teaches (a) about ethics, (b) of playing clean, but hard, (c) not cheating, (d) that there are wins and losses (a valuable lesson in life that PC police are trying to take away from our kids), (e) about rewards and consequences for our actions.