As we prepare to say “good-bye” to another year and the first decade of this century, it is customary for news people from anchors of major TV networks to editors of community news web sites to try to remember what was important in the past year or the past 10 years and remind their viewers and readers of some of the highlights and low-lights.
As I get older, I find that my memory isn’t as sharp as it was 20 years ago. Anyone who visits my office will quickly observe that I will never be a poster boy for organization. Since I was sidelined from the day-to-day news cycle fro the first third of this year and because I don’t keep meticulous notes anyway, a review of the year might be even more fruitless than normal.
So while I was wondering how to fill this space for my last column of this decade, I was wondering how people cope with life’s problems. We live in a world where my problems may not necessarily mean anything to you. My dilemma on what I want to prepare for snacks and meals on New Year’s weekend are no concern to someone who is currently living on the street in Des Moines or Cedar Rapids, wondering how to keep warm one more night and wondering where his or her next meal will come from.
We live in a society that provides distractions to our problems. There are plenty of people who make a living making sure our distractions, whether it is food, booze, video games, gambling or any number of other endeavors become obsessions.
People that hang around me very much quickly discover that my main distraction is sports. I hope that my distraction hasn’t become a total obsession. For example, one of this year’s 33 college football bowl games comes on this afternoon (Tuesday) at 3:30. But that’s before quitting time, so I’ll have to be happy catching the second half. If sports was an obsession, I suppose I would call in sick and stay inside and watch every kick, pass and run.
There is so much that is good about the sports world. If you can get past the money, illegal drugs, various other aspects of the sports world we hear about every day, there’s something very positive about sports, whether you are talking about youth leagues, high school, college or pro sports.
Even as we were touched by scandals, sorrows and various other news in the sports world, those of us who like to maintain a positive view on the world found comfort in happenings in 2009.
The Chicago Bears is my favorite NFL team. They have had a miserable year. They won’t make the playoffs and some of the players and even some of the coaches might not be there next year. But Monday night, they showed why we still love them. Playing against a team that may be in the Super Bowl, against one of the best quarterbacks of all time, they rallied for an overtime victory over the Minnesota Vikings. There’s still hope.
The communities of Aplington and Parkersburg suffered a terrible loss earlier this year when one of the pillars of the community, Coach Ed Thomas, was gunned down in the school weight room. But within the next 24 hours, as most of his family, friends and fans were still wondering how they would cope with this shocking loss, his son stepped before the news microphones to thank the community for its support and to pledge that the work that his father had been such a great part of over decades would continue.
It’s unfortunate that the man who built such a prep football legacy had to give his life before the rest of the sports world learned about all of the good things that those of us who are longtime followers of Iowa prep football already knew.
We learned late this year that the personal life of Tiger Woods may not be as perfect as his golf swing. Unfortunately, what didn’t make the news were the day to day stories of the hundreds of other pro golfers out there who have strong family lives.
This year, hundreds of our neighbors in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City were still trying to pick up their lives from the flood of 2008. Two of this decade’s major sports figures, Masters golf champion Zach Johnson and NFL star quarterback Kurt Warner spent time in their home state helping get people back on their feet.
Sports can give us a pleasant diversion for a couple of hours or an afternoon. Soon we can spend lazy weekend afternoons, as the snow is flying and the temperature is dropping outside, watching golf or stock car racing from much warmer places.
So next month, if you just can’t stare at the four walls any longer, put on your coat, warm up the car and drive on over to the high school and take in a basketball game or wrestling meet. At least for a couple of hours, it’s a way to forget about the cold and our other assorted problems.