I've been thinking about your last point quite a bit recently with accepting how much I don't know and just fully giving myself over to being a casual fan of a few sports - particularly like Hockey, Baseball and Football where I've become pretty much a playoff only consumer. When I was younger I didn't want to be that, I would consume sports and related content until I felt well versed - it felt like a rejection of some of the mainstream bluster around sports, I wanted more.
But coming into being a bit older I like not knowing who these players and visiting them during the playoffs every year, kind of like old friends and handing over some of that space to the knowledge of the people who are truly devoted to it and myself to the pure excitement of something.
I hope accepting what I don't know and translating that into honesty about some other parts of my life (and sports watching life) can be for the better.
I love the comparison to old friends and players in playoffs, and the awareness of handing over some mental space on occasion to other people, especially in sports. It's a really low-stakes way of letting your brain off the hook for a little while.
I reffed the over 65 league over the Christmas break. That’s vulnerable! A few bulls in a china shop. A couple of guys with limited motion, a few whose body language screams NO CONTACT!.
The NBA is great, but I thought these guys playing a game they still love is awesome.
I turn 60 next month so I talked to a few guys after the game. Close to 40 years ago I was at the same gym (Sir John A Macdonald in Scarborough) for a world Masters tournament. Masters was over 35 and I think I was the youngest person on the floor as a 20 year old ref. Love of the game.
I've been thinking about your last point quite a bit recently with accepting how much I don't know and just fully giving myself over to being a casual fan of a few sports - particularly like Hockey, Baseball and Football where I've become pretty much a playoff only consumer. When I was younger I didn't want to be that, I would consume sports and related content until I felt well versed - it felt like a rejection of some of the mainstream bluster around sports, I wanted more.
But coming into being a bit older I like not knowing who these players and visiting them during the playoffs every year, kind of like old friends and handing over some of that space to the knowledge of the people who are truly devoted to it and myself to the pure excitement of something.
I hope accepting what I don't know and translating that into honesty about some other parts of my life (and sports watching life) can be for the better.
I love the comparison to old friends and players in playoffs, and the awareness of handing over some mental space on occasion to other people, especially in sports. It's a really low-stakes way of letting your brain off the hook for a little while.
I reffed the over 65 league over the Christmas break. That’s vulnerable! A few bulls in a china shop. A couple of guys with limited motion, a few whose body language screams NO CONTACT!.
The NBA is great, but I thought these guys playing a game they still love is awesome.
That's incredible! And yeah, talk about total vulnerability for the sake of what you love.
I turn 60 next month so I talked to a few guys after the game. Close to 40 years ago I was at the same gym (Sir John A Macdonald in Scarborough) for a world Masters tournament. Masters was over 35 and I think I was the youngest person on the floor as a 20 year old ref. Love of the game.