Wednesday, July 10, 2013

I Have ONE Question for You

I have watched TOO many hours of volleyball this week in a gym with NO air-conditioning and with outside temperatures in the triple digits. Today, it was around 104 degrees OUTSIDE ... what do you think the temperature was inside with four courts of volleyball being played continuously?

But that's not actually the question I have for you.

Here's the question I'd like an answer to:

Is it possible for a humble, kind, and generous person to be a successful athlete in a competitive team sport?

If you say "yes" ... list some examples.

If you say "no" ... tell me why.

Maybe it's just the heat exhaustion. Maybe it's the seven hours spent in the hot gym - just today. Maybe I need to take a kick-boxing class.

But I am so freaking tired of coaches playing the girls who suck simply because they are more "aggressive." Accuracy doesn't seem to matter them. Consistency doesn't seem to matter. But if you're the meanest, most selfish player on the team ... well let's applaud you.

And now, I'm going to go to bed and try not to dream about volleyball.

3 comments:

  1. I think it is possible, but perhaps not cultivated, so that makes it a harder row to hoe, and anyone who can hoe it will be an exceptional person. I think generous is actually desirable in a team sport, because how often have you seen someone "hog the shot" and blown it - when the better player or closer player would have played it better? Knowing your strengths and weaknesses in your sport (humility) can become an asset in that way, as if everyone plays to their own and each others' strengths, the team benefits. I'm not sure "kind" factors into it, other than in the yogic sense of "nonharming" - meaning causing no harm to other players just to win. I'm more of a baseball fan, and so aggressive physical contact doesn't come into play as much as in some other sports. So I think of baseball players like Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Carl Yastremski, Dwight Evans (I'm a Red Sox fan - I know that's going back a ways).

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  2. I'm thinking of John Stockton, so I'd say yes. And I see he has a memoir coming out, definitely one I want to read!

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