Taming the Sports Gene, Continued- Progress and the Big Picture

As you know I decided to go on a “sports embargo” at the end of July. For 35 days I didn’t read the sports page of look at any sports on TV or the Internet.

Finally, last Sunday, I took a five minute look at the sports page. I carefully monitored myself to see if I had learned anything from the embargo. Could I look at this information dispassionately?

I was doing fine until I read a little blurb about a poor Milwaukee Brewer pitcher who had lost 16 decisions in a row. I briefly thought to myself “what was the manager thinking letting this streak get so long?”. I could feel my pulse quicken.

While I wasn’t “cured” yet, the good news was that I was very quickly able to shut down any further consternation about this pitcher (and his team). I went back to the embargo feeling like I had made some progress.

And sure enough, over the course of this past week I’ve accidentally come across a baseball game (or two) without any change in equilibrium.

I’ve also given a lot of thought to the bigger picture of why I’m really doing this. It comes down to how I value what I call “recreational pursuits“. Let’s start with the definition of recreation:

“a pastime, diversion, exercise, or other resource affording relaxation and enjoyment”

I’ve concluded that I’m using sports as a litmus test in the broader context of how any of my diversions lead to that relaxation and enjoyment.

I could have just as easily chosen something else for that test - like blogging, for example. Am I blogging for enjoyment, or am I “blogging just to blog“? Or maybe I should look at my recent exploration of yoga - am I doing this because of what other people say it should do for me, or am I actually deriving something good from it myself?

Then, I realize I’ve done this test before - years ago, with the game of golf. I blogged about that a couple of months ago.

History is repeating itself - another gut check on the quality and psychological benefit of my recreational activities, and the priority those activities should take in the context of “the rest of my daily life“.

Simply put, if it can make me frown (such that it goes beyond a fleeting second), or I feel obligated to do it, then it just ain’t worth doing.

That’s the big picture.

Now, I face the biggest test of all - I’m in Milwaukee today, and the Packers open their season at home in a couple of hours.

Stay tuned…………