I titled this blog Observations of a Suburban Sports Dad. There will be sports and there will be Dad. There may even be some suburbia. The general point is to entertain a little, inform a little and record my life in sports, raising three boys. This past weekend, my oldest son had his worst swim meet of the summer. Perhaps the worst swim meet of his life. That isn't saying much, since he has only had about 17 or 18 swim meets, but I found it frustrating. I was a pretty good 8 year old swimmer, and I enjoyed being a pretty good 8 year old swimmer. I would like my son to be a good swimmer because it is more fun being a good swimmer than it is being a bad swimmer, or even an average swimmer. At least I think so. But does he? I find myself conflicted.
Eldest wants to be a good swimmer. At least he says he does. I know from personal experience that he enjoys leading his lane in swim practice and, except for the typical actions of an 8 year old boy, he is pretty focused on the job at hand while practicing. Outside of swim practice, he doesn't seem to care. He loves Legos, and computer games, and movies and TV shows, and games and friends and soccer and probably 100 other things I am forgetting. And that is great. He is generally a happy kid, but I wonder whether I am pushing him too hard in certain things. Or am I not pushing him enough?
I have questioned whether I am trying to turn him into me and I am confident the answer is "no". I am certain I am not trying to make up for my failures as an athlete through him. I just want him to be the best that he can be, because I believe that is an admirable goal, and a lot more fun. But, by pushing him, even just a little at this age, am I already taking the fun out of sports. At the same time, if I let his 8-year old flakey mind control things and don't push him, am I setting him up for a childhood of mediocrity in sports that will make him lose interest by the age of 13? I don't know. I worry about both sides of this question.
It is also difficult because I was the third boy in my family, and I am looking at my oldest son. By the time I started swimming and playing soccer and baseball, these sports were already ingrained in my family's consciousness, so I started at a young age and had an example to follow. Eldest started summer swimming one year in age after me, and is already one year behind me as far as winter swimming. And he may not be interested in winter swimming. In theory, that is fine, but I want him to be good. What I can't figure out is whether I want him to be good for me or for him. And, is comparing the oldest of three boys to the youngest of three boys fair? And am I comparing him to me 32 years ago? Again, I don't know, but these are things I worry about.
I have the same questions in sports fandom. I can not wait for the days that my boys want nothing more than to watch a Cowboys game with their father. Or Father's Day spending 8 hours in front of the TV watching the 4th round of the US Open. I hope these days will come. But maybe they won't care about watching sports in the same way I do. Right now, they are much more interested in Ninjago or Star Wars or even iCarly than a football game or a hockey game or the Tour de France. I understand, but I hope one day they want to sit with me and watch the game. I think that is one of many reasons I am really looking forward to the 2012 Olympics. My boys seem genuinely excited and interested, not only in what happens, but in watching it as it happens. It helps that the 200 free lasts for about 2 minutes, and the 100 meter run lasts for less than 10 seconds, so the attention span doesn't come into play. Watching sports with my children is a lot more fun than fighting them for the TV. But again, am I trying to turn my interests into their interests? Am I trying to turn them into me? And am I trying to get them to watch because they will enjoy it? Or because I will? I hope this little exploration into the world of a "Suburban Sports Dad" will give me some answers.
Today's Olympic Story Line. I just learned about this one yesterday and it is a doozy. Guor Marial will get to run in the Men's Marathon under the Olympic flag. Marial is a Sudanese refugee living in Arizona. He escaped from a child labor camp in Sudan and eventually made his way to New Hampshire. He joined the cross country team at the urging of a Gym Teacher and earned a scholarship to Iowa State. Marial was an All-American cross country runner at Iowa State, and ran faster than the Olympic qualifying time the first time he ran a marathon. However, Marial has no country. He is not a US citizen. He will not run for Sudan, because he lost many family members to the Sudanese and was born in what is now South Sudan. For reasons I do not know, he can not run for South Sudan. So, in a rare moment of clarity for the IOC, he was given the opportunity to compete in the marathon under the Olympic flag. I will look forward to seeing how he does. He is unlikely to compete for a medal. But clearly, his story shows what the Olympics can be.
Tour de France update - Bradley Wiggins won in methodical fashion. Wiggins did in cycling's biggest race what Adam Scott could not do in golf's oldest championship - hold ground on the tough stages, make his move at his strength. Wiggins made no moves in the mountains. He just sat on the wheel of his teammate and second place finisher Chris Froome, and forced others to try to win in the mountains. No one could. Then in the individual time trial, Wiggins crushed everyone. It was methodical and boring. But damn impressive. Britian got its first TdF winner ever, just a week before the London Olympics. Then Mark Cavendish won the final stage on the Champs Elysees, giving Britian kind of a 1-2 in prestige, to go along with their actual 1-2 in the race. (Froome also rides for Britian). Now they go into the Olympics with the favorite to win the cycling road race (Cavendish) and the favorite to win the time trial (Wiggins.) I think we need something to smack the Brits down a little. The Olympics isn't about people achieving great things for their country. It's about American dominance. Well, at least Federer smacked down Andy Murray at Wimbledon. (Would Murray winning the Olympic gold at Wimbledon be salt in the wound of England's failure to produce a Wimbledon champion in 100 years? I like to think so. Go Andy! We can root for British tennis players because the Americans all suck.)
Golf: Adam Scott v. Jean Van de Velde. Fair comparison? Probably not, but close enough. Scott bogeyed the final 4 holes to blow a 4 shot lead and lose by 1. I'll be honest, this one hurt. I enjoyed watching VdV collapse, because he did it in such spectacular fashion and he's French. Scott was a slow, steady drop from 4 up, to 2 up, to 1 up, to even, to missed a putt by a hair to lose the tournament. Congratulations to Ernie Els for his 4th major championship trophy, but this tournament was lost, not won.
In local competition, Middle will swim his last meet of the summer tonight (barring a thunderstorm cancellation). Middle managed to stay on his back for 61 seconds Saturday morning, earning a 2nd place in the 6&Under backstroke. He'll take on the looking at the sky stroke again tonight, as well as make a run at the vaunted butterfly. 25 meters of butterfly for a 5 year old is the equivalent of a 39 year old playing goalie at a Villa supporters game. You can do it, and you may even be impressive. You also might die. Eldest will again summit the Everest of 8 year old summer swimming, the 100 IM. Here's hoping he makes it to the top legally. Championship meet for Eldest is this Saturday. I just need to remember he is competing against himself, not the ghost of me.
Things to look forward to:
1. Four days until opening ceremonies.
2. Tomorrow's Olympic Story Line.
3. More promises of my predictions, without any predictions.
4. Eventually, my predictions.
5. A sum up of the first swim season of the next Ryan Lochte.
6. My discussion of what should and should not be in the Olympics.
7. Naked women - just kidding, trying to see if you are paying attention.
8. Naked Ryan Lochte - a little something for my female readers (yes, both of you).
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