If there is one thing that friends know about me, it’s this formula: Me + sports = disaster. I don’t play them. I don’t really watch them (except some baseball and only at the stadium, with a hot dog and a cold beer). Don’t ask me who is the kicker for the Packers, I have no clue.  When people use sports analogies in business meetings, I smile and pump my fist like I know what they are talking about.  A guy I knew in college talked about a girl giving him the “Heisman” and I had no clue what he meant by that.  (This was pre-Google times of course.)

Now, this doesn’t mean that I am not athletic. I live for the endorphins I get from a good workout.  I’ve run 4 half marathons. Pre-COVID, I hit our gym five, okay usually four, days a week. Since we’ve been homebound, I’ve been working on my yoga practice with online classes and I’m proud to say I can do a headstand and forearm stand.  But these aren’t team sports, where individuals work toward a common goal.  

Why wasn’t I into sports? There had to be a reason.  I looked back to my youth. I did all the physical education I had to in elementary school. I mean, the Square Dancing unit really set me up for success in life.  The fact that I was chubby didn’t do me any favors when it came to the Presidential fitness test Endurance Run challenge, which was really only a one mile run around the playground. I always came in last.

I remember taking ballet lessons. My friends were all signed up for t-ball league so I did that too. Although I was the only one that the coaches had to come to home plate for and lower the tee.  I still remember the chuckles from the parents watching in the bleachers when that happened. Yeah, I’m a short person, which means I was a shrimpy kid.

I did what any grown adult does. I went straight to my mom to ask why I didn’t play any sports.  Her answer:  “Well, if you were any good at them, I would have made you play.” So there you have it.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I come across a letter from Mickey that talks about having enough kids to have a sports team. Of course, this was in the context of having a family. There was never any intention to have training sessions or speed drills in the backyard. But it makes me smile to think about my father did have that sports mindset. And how I might have had one too, had he lived.