I really like golf, but only occasionally do I feel like that is reciprocated. Another Full Swing season was recently dropped by Netflix. I think the series is very well done and I enjoy the insight into their lives that you wouldn’t get otherwise. One of the episodes featured Neal Shipley who came to notoriety with his top amateur performance at last year’s Masters. I’ve never met Neal, but his dad graduated a year ahead of me in high school so, there’s a local connection. I was glad to see he’s just a fun-loving younger dude who happens to be pretty good at golf. Another episode featured Sahith Theegala who is an outstanding talent on the verge of being one of the top golfers year in year out. Watching his family enjoy and embrace all that he is experiencing is beyond heart warming to me. Both young golfers come from good stock and that is very evident in how they conduct themselves.
I LOVE THE NFL DRAFT! I consume more content related to the draft than anything else this time of year. I love the combine. Watched every minute at least once. I love the multitude of mock drafts. For me this culminates in a contest that started randomly at our local bar. One Thursday night roughly 15 years ago, me and my buddies were having some beers and watching the first round. Next thing you know, we’re writing our guesses on the next pick on bar napkins and throwing in a dollar a round. (two tie, all tie so, it builds up) This has transformed into a multi-generational event hosted at my house every year. My friends and my older son’s friends who are all hyper into it meet annually for this event. It’s not for everyone, but for us and especially me and my son, it’s a night we really look forward to.
For kids growing up, is it better to focus on one sport or play everything you enjoy? Back in my day, the neighborhood played whatever was in season. Then again, organized sports were not much of a thing. We had baseball and limited football. Today, you can do any number of sports 365 days a year. I started my boys doing everything they wanted to do. My younger son lost interest in sports, which is perfectly fine, but presented a connection challenge for a sports-oriented dad. I wish I had done better at meeting that challenge, but it’s all good now. My older son was pretty good at most things, but especially soccer, which he loved. I remember having him and another kid on my team from a neighboring town. Same size, same ability, pretty much identical players. Season ends and my boy moves on to baseball and whatever else. Soccer season rolls back around and this same kid is clearly better than my son. That kid did nothing other than soccer in between and It showed. My son noticed the difference too and was disappointed. Long story somewhat shorter, I allowed him to make the choice to focus on soccer. He played all the levels and was on a pitch 6 or 7 days a week. I thought we were doing the right thing, but in retrospect, we didn’t. I saw him lose his passion for the game. Win or lose didn’t matter, he was going to be on a pitch somewhere tomorrow. I didn’t catch on as soon as I should have. We were fortunate to play at an advanced level. Many of those parents had visions of D1 scholarships. I never did. I wanted my son to have fun and have an enjoyable high school career, which he did. He would have had fun and a successful high school career having played all the sports. There comes a time when almost all athletes have to focus on one sport, but it’s not in grade school. Let the kids have fun. It will work out if it’s meant to.
Not to be political, but the current administration is firing shots in every direction other than the one that’s most important to me, saving college sports. I don’t want another executive order, I just want someone to do something about the needed structure around NIL and the portal. I read this was coming given all branches being the same party and the minority party getting on board too. It seems like two guys are running college sports these days. Tony Petitti (Big Ten) and Greg Sankey (SEC). Neither seem to care too much about the long-term success of college sports. I hate hearing myself think this, but the government needs to step in. Those involved are too greedy. We need some outside, objective structure. Please do something we can all be happy about!!!
