In the latest edition of crazy/funny movies, my brother just sent me this unbelievable minor league hockey fight. These two guys skate to the middle of the rink, everyone clears out, and then they start throwing punches. What’s incredible is the announcer: "And they connect! He throws a right! Right! Right! Right! Right!"
Case in point why I’ll never play hockey.
I enjoyed this well-written NYT Mag article on 16 year old ice skating prodigy Emily Hughes. First, I like reading about young people who are "professionalizing" at a very young age and how they deal with the pressure and how they go about their daily life. This girl seems pretty with it. The dad does say that the big question for his daugther and others is if they can find another passion in life AFTER ice skating and pursue it wit the same vigor. Second, this article revealed an interesting contradiction in the world if ice skating: these young girls endure tons of physical exertion (weight lifting etc) but then it’s all covered up by a feminine cover with pretty dresses and slim bodies.
My friend Ted Conrad sent me a great article in Salon by a mother of a black teenager who witnessed his foray into ghetto culture. One quote stuck out:
"Although black kids are rountinely expected to fit into white culture, the idea of a white kid becoming black seemed laughable to everyone but Joe’s African American friends."
Last night at a basketball game the speakers were blasting rap music. We were playing an all-black team from Oakland. A friend said, "I wonder what they think when they walk in here and see a bunch of white kids warming up to all this rap." Our opponents showed up late. The one black guy on our team said, "Now y’all don’t understand: there’s time, and then there’s black time. Black time is a half hour later." We all laughed, and the rest of us knew that if we had said it we’d be called a racist.
I think there are a lot of interesting cultural things related to this…
When I saw Marc Canter’s post on his kids and basketball I did a double take. They look familiar, I thought. Why yes – I was just speaking with them last week at an admissions open house at my high school (sports captains have to speak) and they also came to my team’s open basketball practice the other day. Little did I know!
There are so many people where, after a year or more meeting them, we realize we have some interest/passion/concern in common, and it makes our relationship that much stronger. Personal blogs make this 100x easier.
I’ve been playing basketball from a young age, and like most kids nowadays, started playing basketball exclusively and on club teams in 5th grade. Being the 6′ 4" 200 lbs freak of nature I am, I really had no choice but to pick up the sport. I have had a lot of fun during my career but I’m reaching burn out phase. So, I have four months to go of competitive ball with my closest friends.
Sophomore year I started on the varsity team and was named to the All League team, the first time in at least a decade a sophomore from my school had done so. Junior year I was named co-captain, which caused some interesting tensions but was an excellent experience. This year I am co-captain again with a buddy of mine and we are looking to go far.
Last season I blogged throughout the season on "shit happens"; sports analogies in business; leadership when you have twelve sweaty teammates, two minutes, and obnoxious fans; similarities and differences in the business off-site and the team dinner; and the myth that hard work equals success. I did receive one helpful comment from these posts which I incorporated into my captainship.
These are the busiest four months of the year for me and I pretty much become inaccessible via phone unless it’s pre-scheduled. I enjoy the challenge the pushing myself physically – say, during sprints – and mentally, when the gym is so loud I can’t hear myself talk.
It’s time for one last hurrah!