Giving Up the Game?

I’ve written often about my love of sports; how watching talented athletes pushing themselves to achieve life-long goals inspires me. Today, I’m writing about the flip side – when talented athletes falter and rip your heart out in the process.

The other day I wrote about my perfect day walking around the grounds of Medinah Country Club with my family, enjoying the scenery as well as the atmosphere of the first Ryder Cup to be held in the area. By the time Saturday night rolled around, the American team had taken a huge lead in the event and it looked as if we had finally beaten the Europeans at their own game. If you’ve been away from your TV or can’t be bothered with this stuff, you might not know that we left that beautiful venue empty-handed. And now my club, (okay, I don’t belong but thanks to my dad I do get to play there on a regular basis), will always be known as the site of one of the biggest disasters in American golf – and that stinks.

I can’t tell you how much I hate myself for taking this stuff so seriously. I can’t believe I woke up twice during the night and the first thing I thought of (no, it wasn’t that I had to use the bathroom) was that stupid golf tournament. My poor dad, who’s been working at Medinah for twenty-three years, said he did the same thing; certain that he was just waking up from a bad dream. But that’s the thing about sports. You invest your time, your energy and your spirit rooting for your team and, if you let it, a crushing defeat will devastate you almost as much as it devastates your team.

You don’t have to remind me that it’s just a game. I’ve been telling myself that all day. I know no one died; everyone will live to fight another day. But we were so close; so close and now we have to wait two years to have another chance.

So now it’s up to the Bears. C’mon guys, I’m counting on you. Don’t ruin my Tuesday.

A Beautiful Day

When you’ve had a few beautiful days, you get to know what they look like. They usually aren’t the big, special days that we all expect to be amazing but are usually over-hyped spectacles that don’t live up to expectations or overworked occasions that can’t be enjoyed due to sheer exhaustion. No, beautiful days are the ones that sneak up on you, the ones that start out small and build to a conclusion that usually involves looking up and saying, “Thank you”.

A golf tournament isn’t supposed to be a part of one of those days - a wedding, yes; a trip to Venice, yes; a golf tournament, I didn’t think so. But today, strolling around the grounds of Medinah Country Club with my husband, my dad, and my sister, was as good as any day walking under the Eiffel Tower.

Sharing a sunny September day with three of my favorite people reminded me once again how lucky I am. Despite the fact that our "picnic" under one of the enormous oak trees cost $36.50, the day couldn’t have been better. My dad, so happy to be there with his girls, walked around like he owned the joint. And he kind of does. After working there for 23 years, he knows just about everything there is to know about the place. Seeing his excitement about the Ryder Cup coming to “his” club made us all appreciate the time together even more. We only had a few hours before he needed to do a shift change with other members of the family (he wants to make sure everybody gets their chance) but it was enough.

As I get older, I realize more and more how little one really needs to be happy. Time spent in the sunshine with people you love is more than enough to make one beautiful day.