{"id":1893,"date":"2007-06-26T07:51:00","date_gmt":"2007-06-26T13:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/06\/sports-a-diversion-or-an-obsession\/"},"modified":"2007-06-26T07:51:00","modified_gmt":"2007-06-26T13:51:00","slug":"sports-a-diversion-or-an-obsession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/06\/sports-a-diversion-or-an-obsession\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports: A diversion or an obsession?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Dr. James \u201cJim\u201d Kadlecek<\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIf all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work.\u201d – William Shakespeare<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

So, Coach Reggie Theus<\/a> is leaving New Mexico<\/st1:placename> State<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> to go to the Big Show for the Big Bucks.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Who cares?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Apparently, lots of people.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The local Sun-News<\/a> has given his departure front-page, banner headlines for several days. New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> and El Paso TV have covered it endlessly. His handsome photo is everywhere to be seen. It\u2019s the prime topic of the local paper\u2019s tribute to anonymity, \u201cSound Off.\u201d It\u2019s the talk at the coffee shops. I don\u2019t listen to talk radio, but I suspect it\u2019s there too.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t there anything else happening locally that the media can report? Is this really that important? After all, it\u2019s just a game, and Theus is just a coach. Shouldn\u2019t our attention be on matters of significance?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

As I recall, we are in a war. Our governor is running for president and says he\u2019ll bring the troops home immediately if elected. Our city and county are starting to debate growth and the outrageous housing prices. County<\/st1:placetype> Commissioner<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> Bill McCamley<\/a> is running for Congress. The county is debating fees at the trash dumps. The squash, string beans, cucumbers and sweet corn in my garden are ready to harvest.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

All of those things are a lot more important to me than whether Reggie stays, goes or suffers from irregularity.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

So, does that mean I hate basketball? Not at all. As a kid growing up on a farm in Colorado<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, basketball was our winter diversion. My dad converted the haymow in our barn into a crude basketball court, and we played every day. It made the winter farm work and the depressingly cold and dreary days, well, less depressing and dreary. It was a fun diversion from reality. And of course, that\u2019s what sports is \u2013 or ought to be \u2013 a diversion.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Out of whack<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But, whoa! Haven\u2019t things gotten a lot out of whack? I mean, we were paying this guy more than the university president. Now, he\u2019s going to be making several million dollars in Sacramento<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. He\u2019s not a heart surgeon, not a general leading the troops, not a priest savings souls, not a risk-taking businessman who creates good jobs, not a charismatic leader for social justice.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a basketball coach, for God\u2019s sake! I\u2019m sure he\u2019s a nice guy and apparently a decent coach, but in my book, he\u2019s no more or less important than the courteous check-out clerk at Albertsons, or the efficient and pleasant waitress at my favorite caf\u00e9, Las Trancas, or the farmer growing those beautiful fields of corn and chile down the road from my place.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

One of the admirable characters in basketball today is Phil Jackson<\/a>, another coach who is also a bit of a philosopher. Phil is quoted as saying, \u201cNot only is there more to life than basketball, there\u2019s a lot more to basketball than basketball.\u201d I certainly agree with the first part of that, and it applies to all sports.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I looked up \u201csports\u201d in the Columbia Encyclopedia and here\u2019s what it says: \u201cathletic 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But, let me back up a bit here. I don\u2019t intend to demean those who get some inspiration or lesson in leading a useful life from sports. There\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But it ought not be the expensive obsession that it has become. Shouldn\u2019t we, as a society of presumably well-educated individuals, do a better job of keeping it in perspective? Let\u2019s 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\u2019s adopt the attitude best expressed by one of the truly admirable athletes in American history, four-time Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens<\/a>, who said:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cTo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Kadlecek<\/a> has lived in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> since 1996, served in the Colorado Legislature and holds a doctorate in public administration. He\u2019s the author of the book \u201cCapitol Rape.\u201d His column runs on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month and other times that he gets fired up about something.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr. James \u201cJim\u201d Kadlecek \u201cIf all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work.\u201d – William Shakespeare So, Coach Reggie Theus is leaving New Mexico State to go to the Big Show for the Big Bucks. Who cares? Apparently, lots of people. The local Sun-News has given his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kadlecek-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1893\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}