Time flies by faster as one get older. We proceed from one significant event on the calendar to the next. We keep our orientation. We know what to expect. So we've put the county fair behind us.
Advancing years also makes me aware of what seems to be concerning inflation. I meandered around the fairgrounds and did not hear concerns about the price of everything. Well I'm 69 years old, will turn the page to my 70s in January, God willing.
Inflation was an up-front topic in the 1970s, the decade of disco music and "Smokey and the Bandit" movies. Jackie Gleason was willing to play a sheriff who came across as so foolish. Whereas today, our pop culture encourages us to have respect for law enforcement.
The law enforcement that was present at the U.S. capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was not worthy of so much respect. We read of at least one U.S. Congressperson who refused to shake hands with capitol police after that event.
Our world can be "Alice Through the Looking Glass" at times. So in the future we might look back with some amazement. We look back now at the many years when we were sold on the escalation of the Vietnam war. Remember the movie "The Green Berets?" Yes we look back in amazement.
Again I will use a quote out of its intended context: "We are so human an animal."
Now I am getting to my main point in this post, prompted by the realization of how time flies. We look at the calendar and my goodness, summer is fading. And that means we have the signaling by the Donnelly Threshing Bee, Labor Day weekend and the start of fall high school sports activity. And I am so happy to note we have boys soccer in the mix of offerings, finally.
A favored activity by the Hispanics? Well yes, that's the word out there, and it's a happy thing. But it would be nice to see enthusiasm from the other boys as well. This would include boys who would normally go out for football. I'd say "hooray" if football fell off to the point where our school board would consider just canceling it. Wishful thinking I suppose.
The endless sea of easily accessible information on the dangers of football to its participants puts up a warning signal. You may enjoy watching football. You may enjoy watching it so much, you'll be resentful about the tone of my commentary here. But of course we need to put the entertainment value of football aside. And I realize that is hard to do.
I just consumed a couple podcasts about pro players who became highly damaged by injuries that were either physical or brain-related or both. These players: Carson Wentz and "RGIII." They are dealing with conditions that will almost certainly haunt them the rest of their lives. And there are plenty of similar stories, including stories ending in death, about males who never made it to the pro level.
 |
| Carson Wentz |
Wentz is now a backup at Kansas City. If you were to see him trot out onto the field, you would expect him to look like when he was in his prime. We don't even want to think about the affects of extreme injury. We sit comfortable in our own lives, just wanting to enjoy watching football.
Remember the ghastly injury that Teddy Bridgewater had when he was with the Vikings? It was reported that the bottom portion of his leg almost came off.
So you say you're bored watching soccer? Well, learn to like it. It is a stupendously popular sport around the globe, inspiring riots even.
Soccer means there is a net increase of student activities at our Morris Area High. In athletics we are "MACA" but we're still the Tigers. But never forget the Spartans! I see Neal Hofland on many mornings at DeToy's Restaurant. He made famous the toss-sweep play when he coached Chokio-Alberta.
Is it time?
The steady growth in extracurricular makes me want to repeat a suggestion: Let us open up Wednesday night for student activities just like the other weekdays. I'll remind you of the problem: Wednesday is considered "church night." Is this proclamation by law or what?
I say open up Wednesday night 100 percent. Why not? The Christian faith has become bastardized anyway, at least in many places. Most places, actually. We have seen reports of ministers getting complaints from their members about quoting from Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount." It's amazing. Jesus' own words.
So maybe our Lord and Savior could sometimes sound receptive to a little collectivism? Are people so influenced by Republican politics? By Republicans of the MAGA stripe thee days? And amazingly it reaches the point where many people who call themselves Christian have more respect for Donald Trump than for Jesus Christ our Lord. This appears literally to be true.
Jesus had a little Bernie Sanders in him. Let me remind you, since so many of you appear clueless, that all advanced industrial nations are a combination of free market enterprise and socialism. Yes, socialism. If you cannot accept that, please stay home on Sundays.
So because of the highly political nature of so many of our Christian churches today, I implore our public schools to treat Wednesday like any other day of the week. I have always heard that school music programs have a hard time getting their concerts shoe-horned into the schedule. I heard of one school that "put its foot down" re. this, deciding that a couple days were to be absolutely set aside for humanities events in spring, no matter how many sports "makeup games" were piling up.
I applaud that.
It's important this coming fall for us to get out and support soccer. Cheer for the Hispanics and the non-Hispanics in this more gentle sport compared to the barbarity of football. Why did Carson Wentz allow himself to be put in position to be hurt so badly? Or RGIII?
RGIII refused to allow himself to be taken out of games. It was all because of this tragic allure of football, how stadiums get filled with people screaming out of their minds. All I can do is continue to try to warn y'all.
It's still summer
Before all the fall excitement begins, consider getting out to the biking/walking trail to "commune with nature." Now there's a romantic notion. It has allure but can be misleading. That is because nature can be a foreboding place. Yes, even out by our Pomme de Terre River you could come in contact with "nature" that would not be welcome. I write more about this in my current "Morris of Course" post. I invite you to read and thanks:
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yuahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment