Let me start this off on a positive note: First, I am a proponent of physical activity and exercise. Second, I believe everyone needs a hobby/interest/obsession, and if you choose sports, you are free to do so. It's a free country. Mostly.

Now, for some background info...
During high school I took a required American history/government class in which we had one set of tattered, dog-eared textbooks to share. There weren't enough copies to go around. (Remember, this was pre-Internet... you actually had to have the hard copy of the book if you wanted the information.)

Around the same time, I stumbled across a monthly school board report, and noticed that the board had approved a purchase totaling tens of thousands of dollars for new wrestling mats. This seemed wrong to me when I couldn't study for my required history/government class because it wasn't my turn to take home the textbook, so I wrote an op-ed column for our high school newspaper questioning the prioritization of buying new wrestling mats over buying new textbooks.

Within a few days of publication I received an invitation to visit the superintendent's office, where I was told that I, as a mere student, had no comprehension of the role of the school board and that if I wrote any more inflammatory articles I would face dire consequences (suspension and/or expulsion were hinted at).


Needless to say, that experience left a nasty taste in my mouth about high school sports (and wrestling in particular), so when my youngest son (the first one to attend public high school) decided to wrestle, I cringed. But for his sake (because that's what parents do) I shoved aside my personal dislike and purposed to support him in his endeavor. At his first meet, I had a panic attack. After his second meet (which cost the parents $10 apiece to watch), I cried halfway home and had to take a "chill pill" to stop the shaking and sobbing. His third meet he wasn't scheduled to wrestle... RELIEF.

And then we hit finals week, and he had late practices scheduled. That means practice doesn't start until 6 or 6:30. School gets out at 4. For kids who live 20-30 minutes from school, that means they have to "hang out" somewhere for a couple hours and skip dinner before practice; or drive home and back (remember, this is WINTER in Colorado), and then drive home again at 8:30 or 9 p.m.

Um... no.

Who schedules late practices during finals? Didn't I sit through a painful parent meeting a few weeks ago where the athletic director and the coach explained how important it is for all of the athletes to stay "eligible" during their sports season? How does scheduling late practices during finals week help them remain eligible? Youngest son, who has been "a morning person" since birth, overslept one day this week, something that hasn't happened all year and that only happens when he is seriously overtired.

So the late practices annoyed me. Then manchild came home and said his team has not one, but TWO meets this weekend—all day Friday, all day Saturday (Thursday was the last day of school before Christmas break). Once again, he doesn't have any opponents in his weight class. Oh, and it will cost HIM $20 to sit and watch his teammates.

Um. HELL NO.

To top off the insanity, we found out that his weightlifting class (a school P.E. class) has changed its grading system, and that no one in the class will be getting an "A" this semester. Youngest child is, by anyone's definition, "buff." Weightlifting is something he does for entertainment. In school he pushes himself to the point of injury... and HE can't get an "A"? How is THAT helping anyone succeed, whether we're looking at GPAs and college applications or the students' long-term feelings toward exercise and physical activity? It took me 20+ years after my multiple traumatic experiences in P.E. class (dodgeball, anyone?) to retrain my brain to enjoy exercise. I don't want to see the same thing happen to anyone else. And seriously, should weightlifting affect one's GPA anyway?


And so, my rant:

• Promoting physical education and athletics should not, ever, sabotage academic achievement or advancement. 
• Promoting physical education and athletics should not, ever, take precedence over basic wisdom, common sense, and protecting the health and well-being of the students participating. 

When sports take priority over academics, we've lost the understanding of what it means to "get an education." Are sports part of getting an education? Certainly. There are valuable lessons to be learned, discipline to be gained, etc., from participating in sports. The same is true with music, art, and drama programs (where did those go, anyway?).

And so, again, for the umpteenth time in the last quarter-century, I find myself struggling with the system's failure to prioritize what is actually important when it comes to educating our children. Some things, sadly, never change.

So this is day 2 of the 30 day drawing challenge. Today's assignment? Draw my favorite sport.
Anyone who knows me very well knows I have a pathological dislike for the majority of sports. Not exercise, not personal sports activities like tennis or golf or skiing, but the big money, big hype, overexposed sports that take up a third of the nightly news and a huge chunk of our nation's discretionary income. (What the heck is discretionary income, anyway? I must not have it.)

Anyway, I do like horse racing, but quickly realized my drawing skills are not sufficient to draw Churchill Downs and a pack of horses thundering down the stretch to the finish line. And, I only watch horse racing once a year, so that doesn't really qualify as a favorite thing, IMHO.

So I opted for a non-traditional sport.


A sport, by definition, is "an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature" and/or "a particular form of this, especially in the out of doors."

Thrift store shopping demands tremendous skill and physical prowess in the form of sorting through heaps and piles and stacks and racks of clothing and shoes and purses and knickknacks. And while most thrift store shopping expeditions are of a training nature, competitiveness comes into play on bag sale days and yard sales (which also fulfill definition #2).

On bag sale day, you get a bag, and can stuff as many items into that bag as will fit, for one low price. Sometimes it's $1, sometimes it's $3 or $5. One high-falutin' store I stopped at recently offered a $10/bag sale. But their bags were smaller than a gallon Ziploc, not your usual brown paper grocery sack or plastic bag. Bag sale days, like yard sales, are very competitive, with shoppers vying for the most stuff for the least amount of money. It can get ugly.

Kind of like my picture. Do you have any idea how hard it is to draw a sack of clothes? Which way DO collars point? And that creepy looking pink thing on the left? It's supposed to be a glove.

Before I begin this post, I must clarify my position:

1. I am not a sports fan. For the most part, I think it's a ridiculous waste of time, money, and energy. Why someone should be paid $6 million to PLAY football while our soldiers, firemen, and policemen scrape along on wages that are scarcely above poverty levels ... in my opinion there's something wrong with that. That's my personal opinion, and I'm just as entitled to it as you are entitled to bedeck yourself in the colors of your favorite team, wave flags, yell and scream, and spend hundreds, if not thousands, of your hard-earned dollars on merchandise and game tickets and overpriced hot dogs. To each their own.

photo by gtmcknight	via PhotoRee

2. I am a Christian. I believe with all my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who came to earth in the form of a man and ransomed humanity from eternal death and destruction through his death, burial, and resurrection. He made the way for us to be restored to eternal life and relationship with God the Father. All that is required of us is to believe in Him, to acknowledge and receive Him as our Savior and as Lord. 

That said...

Football fan or not, living in Colorado this year means we are bombarded with news and commentary about Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. Tebow, you may recall, first came under fire in 2010 for making a pro-life commercial that aired during those million-dollar milliseconds we refer to as "Super Bowl halftime."


He hasn't pulled back, either. His pregame prayer sessions on the sidelines have generated a viral movement known as "Tebowing." Yeah, there's no question about Tim Tebow's religious position, and his open profession of faith has generated the usual deluge of praise and criticism.

While most limit their wrath to Tebow's ability to lead an NFL team to victory as a quarterback, others have gone on the attack about his outspoken religious views. Even fellow Christian footballers like Kurt Warner have suggested Tebow tone down the religious rhetoric. Others have jumped to Tebow's defense, attacking the media attackers and declaring the young player the victim of an evil, left-wing, liberal, Christ-hating, socialist media agenda seeking to destroy our country's Judeo-Christian foundation.


*sigh*

I question how quickly the same right-wing, First Amendment professing, free-country-declaring individuals would be to leap to the defense of an equally vocal Muslim or a Jew or a Buddhist, or, {GASP} a homosexual football player? Or a thrice-divorced adulterer with questionable personal ethics ... oh, wait... stick with football, we're not talking about GOP presidential candidates.

On the other hand, would the Tebow haters be as swift to lash out against a non-believer? Would there be any notice taken at all?


Honestly, can we not come up with anything better to argue about? Do we REALLY believe God gives a flip about who wins or loses a football game as though it was an Old Testament battle  between the Hebrews and the Philistines?

As for Tim Tebow, in my opinion he has every right to continue to speak from his heart, to pray on the sidelines, and to give honor and praise to God whenever and wherever he feels like it. Dude, go for it. And if you can keep up the winning streak, more power to ya ... Coloradans are noticeably happier when the Broncos aren't making asses er, donkeys, out of themselves.

For all the Christian armchair quarterbacks out there wielding your righteous indignation: Is persecution not to be expected for those who take a stand for Christ?

"If you are reproached (insulted or reviled) for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified." 1 Peter 4:14

"Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven ..." Matthew 5:11-12

Let's quit whining about the media being mean to Tebow and rejoice with him! 
Just a thought.