Sports is just sports ~ October 12, 2000

David Heiller                                                                                                                                                                                     

“How did you sleep?” Cindy asked when I woke up on Tuesday morning.

“Great,” I replied. “I slept the sleep of a Vikings victory.”

And it was true. Monday nights I don’t often sleep well, as I ponder what the heck to put in the Askov American for that week.

But the Vikings had won, and I had drifted off to sleep with scenes of the, win playing through my smiling head.

Of course, there is another side of this coin.

I saw an old college friend, Scott, on Saturday. I hadn’t seen him for a couple years, so we tried to catch up on each other’s lives, which for guys means talking about sports. I was shocked to hear that he didn’t care to watch the Vikings, and hadn’t for several years. He said he was disgusted with their pampered egos and their silly antics. But he also said he couldn’t stand the roller coaster of emotions when they lose.

He didn’t use those words. Only newspaper editors use words like that. But translated from Martian, that’s what he meant.

My son and I watched the Vikings game on Monday night together. When they fell behind late in the game, I turned to him and said, “Now I know why Scott doesn’t watch the Vikings.”

Our smaller Vikings fan.

Yet they won, and I slept well, and that’s one reason why I do watch them.

Another reason I like sports is that it is something I can share with my son, who is 17. We don’t always have a lot to talk about, and the Vikings bridge that gap.

But dealing with losing is a big challenge, something that both children and adults have to deal with.

I remember last year, after the New York Mets lost in the playoffs. The final game ended at midnight. It was a tough loss. I knew my friend, Steve, who is a big Mets fan, would still be awake. So I called him at midnight, which is something that I would not do with anyone unless I was the bearer of bad news. In a sense, I was that grim messenger, although Steve already knew the score.

Steve was indeed awake. He was almost despondent. He said with some bitterness that his kids had gone to bed, had given up on his beloved Mets. He had told them the game wasn’t over, but they hadn’t believed. Maybe they were like Scott and didn’t want to have their hearts mauled.

Steve was about as sad as a person could be without involving a death in the family.

We talked about the game, about this player and that play. I let Steve do most of the talking. I think it helped him. At one point he even said something like, “I’m glad you understand.”

Sports is just sports, but in a way that’s like saying water is just water. They are both pretty important in our lives, as the fall season of sports reminds me every year.

They can keep you awake at night, and they can give you a good night’s sleep too.