I love, simply love, little kid's sports. My stepson was 9 when my own son was born - so it was kinda like having two only children... Years and years of baseball, basketball, soccer with the first - followed by years and years of the same with the second. I coached each and every game - which isn't "news" - but something I was very proud of - and I'd never ever missed a single game. I ain't good at much, but I was pretty darn good at making sure all the kids I coached learned - and that they walked away with a positive self image. I'd seen too much of the wrong kind of coach - therefore I volunteered each and every season/sport.
One of the many occupational jugglings I did was part-time cargo sales for a major airline. The airline had just opened a station in Kansas City - and I signed on to help get them off the ground, pun perhaps intended. Maybe they felt sorry for me - as, I was formerly a cargo sale's rep for another carrier that went belly up - on THE very day I was hosting a customer appreciation golf tournament for all our cargo customers. (Yes, first prize was roundtrip anywhere the airline "usedta" go. Folks at the tourney were understanding as they realized I was losing my job. The four beers I quickly downed after hearing "Chapter 11... ALL planes are grounded" helped too.)
Back to sports - kid sports. A cargo sales meeting in Washington DC was to be held only hours before my own flesh and blood's very first soccer game (Kindergarten). Begrudgingly I consented to go - explaining how important this game was to me to my boss... "Yeah yeah, it's ok, we'll get you out of the meeting early."
I flew. We met. It went on monotonously long. And longer. Thrice I looked at my boss with raised eyebrows from across the room. Thrice he looked back with that "it's only a damned kid's soccer game" look. I literally had minutes to make the last flight outta DCA to Kansas City. I finally gained the nod of approval to hightail it - and that I did. A white OJ running thru the airport to gate 67, minutes to spare. Twas back in the day when I could run and still legibly talk right after........
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh I'm sorry sir, this flight is full - and even though your 'pass' is positive space, revenue customers still come first. "........ "Shit" I thought to myself..... "Is there any possible way to make it back to Kansas City by 4pm?"......... She peeked thru the computer for all possibilities...... "Ya know, there is a flight leaving in one hour from Baltimore."...... "Yeah? How long's it take to get to Baltimore?"........ "Ouch, well, it's about an hour drive."
To the curb I ran - no carryons, no suitcases..... hollering at the first sleeping non-English speaking cabbie I saw. "I've got $50, can you take me to Baltimore to try and catch a flight leaving in one hour"... "I try" he chimed back. "NO, you don't understand, I'm talking ALL I'VE GOT is $50 - tip, fare, included."...... "Come on" (noticing my frantic want to make the flight) "I try."
He took every shortcut he could find... we bounced, rattled, sped, swerved, screeched, passed...... and made it. He smiled proudly as I handed him the $50 - and I again was running thru the airport........ Found the flight.... Jetway was seconds from pulling back..... "WAIT!!! WAIT!!!"............. Whew........ I made it......................
Pulling into the City Park I smiled when I saw the assembled green team - their first ever team experience. I'd made it - I wasn't going to miss a game... specifically my kid's very first game.. Our eyes met - he had no idea whatinthehell I'd gone thru to make it to the game - and his eyes stared back with that "hi... whereinthehell you been... oh, you're here.... no biggie" look. The little rotten shit.
The $50 taxi ride, the running thru two different aiports, the 75 mph ride from the airport to the park were all justified by one event that happened in that game. The event fortifies all that's right with kid's sports.
Eric (not my son) was the only kid on the team that could actually punt the ball - so - by default, jualah, he's our goalee. This kid had the most infectious, wonderful, everpresent smile - I think I tried to actually steal him and take him home with us a few times!... His grin was now highlighted by the recent loss of his two front teeth....
Most of the first quarter was composed of the green team and the red team playing "beehive" around the ball somewhere around midfield. Fiiiiiiiiiiinally a red player broke thru the scrum and actually dribbled toward the goal... He fired from perfect distance - and Eric cleanly fielded the ball just as we had gone over time and time again in practice. Of course - he turned to the 47 screaming, triumphant parents - and yep, there was that damn grin...
"OK ERIC" I thought to myself..."Remember, 1 (step), 2, 3, 4, PUNT!"..... Sucking up this great moment of attention - he too painstakingly planned his 1,2,3,4 Punt.... 1....... 2....... 3....... 4...... PUNT!....................... Uh oh. He actually did the preliminaries quite well - but he got a little screwed up on the angle of his foot and he ultimately ended up flat on his derriere........ the ball went directly back over his head - and perfectly landed in the opponent's goal. ......... Crap!..... Nah, wait, this is kid's sports - who cares......
Would we finally see anger/fervor/hatred/shock/embarrassment from Eric's face? Nope. He turned to the 84 eyeballs upon him, most folks covering their mouths with their hands to keep from laughing.... and there it was...... that big ole grin again. It epitomized all kid's sports are supposed to be about. Eric taught me alot that day about how the will is so much more important than the outcome.
Plane fare to/from KC to DCA/BWI - free. Taxi fare from DC to Baltimore - fifty bucks.... Eric's toothless grin - priceless.
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