By Dr. James “Jim” Kadlecek
“If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work.” – William Shakespeare
So, Coach Reggie Theus is leaving
Who cares?
Apparently, lots of people.
The local Sun-News has given his departure front-page, banner headlines for several days.
Isn’t there anything else happening locally that the media can report? Is this really that important? After all, it’s just a game, and Theus is just a coach. Shouldn’t our attention be on matters of significance?
As I recall, we are in a war. Our governor is running for president and says he’ll bring the troops home immediately if elected. Our city and county are starting to debate growth and the outrageous housing prices.
All of those things are a lot more important to me than whether Reggie stays, goes or suffers from irregularity.
So, does that mean I hate basketball? Not at all. As a kid growing up on a farm in
Out of whack
But, whoa! Haven’t things gotten a lot out of whack? I mean, we were paying this guy more than the university president. Now, he’s going to be making several million dollars in
He’s a basketball coach, for God’s sake! I’m sure he’s a nice guy and apparently a decent coach, but in my book, he’s no more or less important than the courteous check-out clerk at Albertsons, or the efficient and pleasant waitress at my favorite café, Las Trancas, or the farmer growing those beautiful fields of corn and chile down the road from my place.
One of the admirable characters in basketball today is Phil Jackson, another coach who is also a bit of a philosopher. Phil is quoted as saying, “Not only is there more to life than basketball, there’s a lot more to basketball than basketball.” I certainly agree with the first part of that, and it applies to all sports.
I looked up “sports” in the Columbia Encyclopedia and here’s what it says: “athletic games or tests of skill undertaken primarily for the diversion of those who take part or those who observe them. The range is great; usually, however, the term is restricted to any play, pastime, exercise, game, or contest performed under given rules, indoors or outdoors, on an individual or a team basis, with or without competition, but requiring skill and some form of physical exertion.”
But, let me back up a bit here. I don’t intend to demean those who get some inspiration or lesson in leading a useful life from sports. There’s no question that sports is illustrative of many of the games we play in life. Business and competition in the market is a game. Politics is certainly a game. Anything in life that involves competition, skill, training, endurance, patience, timing and hard work bears similarity to sports.
But it ought not be the expensive obsession that it has become. Shouldn’t we, as a society of presumably well-educated individuals, do a better job of keeping it in perspective? Let’s redirect some of the energies and resources that we now pour into professional and college athletics into the resolution of the difficult problems facing our country, our state and our community. Let’s adopt the attitude best expressed by one of the truly admirable athletes in American history, four-time Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens, who said:
“To me, we must learn to spell the word RESPECT. We must respect the rights and properties of our fellowman. And then learn to play the game of life, as well as the game of athletics, according to the rules of society. If you can take that and put it into practice in the community in which you live, then, to me, you have won the greatest championship.”
Kadlecek has lived in