"I saw at least eight fights break out the last time I went" said a friend. "We're number one!", the eighteen year old yelled from his car, while waving a bottle of tequila in the air. "Hey, who 'ya bettin' on in the next game?" one patron asked another at a local tavern between gulps of beer.
Call it being a sports fan, sports buff or sports fanatic, it boils down to watching others participate in physical activity. And at times, it also resembles a cross between a casino in Las Vegas and a bar room brawl. We watch, we yell, they play. We encourage and sometimes idolize others who are involved in multi million dollar contracts, shoe endorsements, drug problems, PR firms, lawyers, Super Bowls and World Series. When we're not watching "the game", we watch the local sportscasters barking out scores on T.V., all to find out who's number one, who's better, who's the greatest, who's the ultimate athlete?
It was George Leonard who, in the late 1970's, wrote a book entitled The Ultimate Athlete. Each sport was analyzed, each athlete was examined. Was it the swimmer? Images of Mark Spitz come to mind, using all of the muscle groups of the body, lungs and heart working to their maximum efficiency. Or was it the baseball player, displaying a certain finesse on the field? How about the mountain climber, risking his or her life, or the weight lifter, the runner, the football player?
The ultimate athlete . . . was there something that set this person aside? What could we learn from such a person? Well, in short, the ultimate athletes are you and I. These may be somewhat confusing words to the couch potato, but let's take a look.
Close your eyes for a moment and think back . . . that warm summer day at the pool, you were seven or eight years old, and you could hardly control yourself as you headed toward the water. "Walk, walk" the life guard yells out, you slow down momentarily, only to resume your dash toward the pool's edge. Once in the water, your body and soul knew exactly what to do. Play! Have fun, swim, splash and pretend you're a fish. One minute you were in an argument, the next minute you retaliated gleefully with a cannonball. And how you looked in awe at those who ventured into the deep end. Of course we all grew up, and learned that this is not appropriate behavior for adults. Or is it? You see at eight, you were exhibiting all of the signs of being the ultimate athlete.
SIGNS . . .
Paraphrasing from George Leonard's book, The ultimate
athlete:
So it looks like eight year olds should be the gurus of the nineties, after all, they've found the key to happiness (play) and in the process have become true athletes. No million dollar contracts, no drug problems, just true athletes.
We'll never be able to go back to those days, but perhaps we can learn from those eight year olds. You see, inside us all, is a kid that wants to come out and play. Our bodies yearn to run and jump and dance and swim. We just need to give it an excuse . . . a sport, a hobby or a certain exercise. But instead, many of us grow up and turn our attention to others that play, and make them our heros. We watch, we yell, we pay, they play.
But there's still time, there's always time, to look within and recognize . . ., recognize the part that wants to join in, and run and jump and dance and celebrate who we are, athletes, the ultimate athletes.
Copyright 1996 by Robert Ross, All Rights
Reserved
Robert Ross can be reached by E-mail at: SanDiegoRoss@Yahoo.com
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