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Confessions of a Sports Parent: The Scoreboard
As the holidays have come and gone, and most of us are back into our routines, it can only mean one thing…back to driving our kids all over creation to their respective sporting events. As a result, I thought it would be fun to resume writing about the random thoughts I sometimes have while sitting on a sideline as a parent. This week, I pondered a topic that always provokes heated debate among parents and organizations: the scoreboard. How important is it? What does it mean? Do you think it’s even needed? Is it the only thing needed? Like most things in our culture today, the two extremes rule the…
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Confessions of a Sports Parent: The Parent Zone
If you are anything like me, I sometimes lose sight of my boy’s childhood, which is flying by. We go from one season to the next, making it difficult to enjoy the time in front of us entirely. It is hard to stay in the moment and present, knowing the next game, season, or sport is approaching. That said, whenever I catch myself adrift from the moment, I approach each game or match with the end in sight. It sounds contradicting, but it has helped me stay in the present. One of the interior freedoms that occurs after mid-life is the ability to see things in a non-dualistic fashion. For…
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Confessions of a Sports Parent: Sports Wounds
(This is the second part of the series; it might be helpful to read the first here) We have all heard flight attendants tell adults and caregivers, especially parents, to apply their oxygen masks before helping others. The idea, of course, is that if you run out of oxygen yourself, you can’t help anyone else with theirs, especially children. That is a good image for me when I try to stay balanced as a sports parent. When I find myself out of balance, it usually happens when my old sports wounds, fears, or anxieties rear their ugly heads. I refer to these things as my shadows. Consequently, when I watch…
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Confessions of a Sports Parent: Sports Balance
We know there is no rule book for parents. We learn on the fly, and many cultural influences affect our decisions and values, not to mention our personal history, both positive and negative. Furthermore, for those of us who have children playing sports, the same premise exists…there isn’t a rule book, yet the same influences exist. Gone are the days of signing up at your local league and you play a season for just that team alone. The rise of travel and specialization has changed the landscape of youth sports. As a result, most of us are trying to navigate an ever-changing world of youth sports to ensure our children…
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Moments in Time: Helena, MT
This week’s “moment in time” takes us to Helena, Montana. The state capital of Montana, Helena, became known as the “Queen City of the Rockies” due to the boom of the 1864 gold strike. That said, baseball brings us to the beautiful city of Helena today—specifically, June 1996. We find ourselves at Kendrick Legion Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers Rookie Ball Team at that time. I was a skinny 18-year-old boy playing for the Great Falls Dodgers, the Rookie Ball Team for the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was the opening night of the Pioneer League, and we had a road series against the Helena Brewers. Great Falls, Montana,…
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Now More Than Ever, We Need the Wisdom of Sports
Sports have mostly returned after being shut down due to COVID-19. From international and national football (soccer) to MLB, NBA, and golf, games have at least returned to TV for our pleasure. Although much is different due to all of the necessary health protocols, the essence of sports, competition, and what it means to be a part of a team, fans are back. We should revisit some of those truths in light of our current culture. Detachment I love sports, from competing to watching them as a fan to now being the father of children participating in sports. Sports can teach lessons to all of us, no matter our relationship…
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Baseball, Friendship, and Bathroom Prophecy
Since returning to the States, it has been great to reconnect with some friends. Due to the time difference while living in Switzerland, it was hard to connect even if the desire existed. That said, it’s incredible how easily you can pick up right where you left off with your close friends. This made me think, what makes a connection like this possible? One good friend of mine is someone that I met while playing professional baseball. We were both 18 years old and fresh out of high school. We immediately connected with the same love of music, but honestly, besides that, there wasn’t much of a commonality. He was…
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High School Sports Hall of Fame
There is an underlying reality to our lives that is always present but can only be seen clearly through the eyes of time. No one else can claim this reality because it is our responsibility to grasp it. It is the individual story of our lives. For no one has breathed the air meant for us. No one has walked in our footsteps. Although there will always be similarities in the experiences of our lives, there will never be complete symmetry. Our lives are exclusively ours. They are ours to learn from. To own. To live. I recently went home for a short but humble visit back to my hometown…
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U.S.A. vs. Germany
Taking the train through the countryside of Germany brought up some nostalgic emotions as it was the first time in my life that I was in the country of my grandfather’s origin. It was the first time physically being in touch with a part of me that I rarely think about. As an American, most of my generation are “Mutts.” That is, we are a mix of many nationalities. So, although I am 75% Irish and only 25% German, my last name, Illig, is German. I am proud to say that it originates from Germany. Having said that, I am an American citizen. And I am proud and not ashamed…
