Sports! Go Sports!

"A gentleman does not disparage the beliefs of others - whether they relate to matters of faith, politics, or sports teams."

When I was younger, my mother would tell me to be careful of what I would ask of God. He would answer prayers, but never in the way you would expect. If you ask for patience, he will not hand patience to you. Instead he will present you with ample opportunities to practice patience. This is how I felt about this week's focus.

I have always found pride in being open-minded and respectful of the ideas and beliefs of others. So, when I first read this truth I thought, "This will be easy." Then I read the final three words; "or sports teams." Why did John have to add those fateful words?

Most who know me know that I am not a fan of sports, especially The OSU Buckeyes. True, I am a proud alum of The Ohio State University, but, as I often have to remind my father, that does not make me a fan of the sports franchise. I have often enjoyed teasing the vast number of Buckeye fans living here in Columbus about how absurd I find their fanaticism. Now realizing that I could no longer revel in the joy of this, especially at the beginning of March Madness, I was sure that this would be one aspect that I would never be able to internalize.

At this point I was reminded of a pearl of wisdom that I was taught by an energetic rabbit that if one does not have something nice to say, one should choose to say nothing at all. Every time that I was confronted with a conversation or observation concerning any sporting event I would remind myself of this and simply bite my tongue. This worked well... until last Friday.

A colleague and I went to a local restaurant for lunch and, of course, there were basketball games flashed all over every television in the place. I could feel the urge to say something, but I followed the advise of the wise lagomorph and bit my tongue. I bit it so hard that I almost bit clear through. I guess no one said that being a gentleman would be easy.