Softball For The
Love Of It has a great track record of success.
We do not require any attendance, yet early each Sunday morning we have
enough players to play a game.
Yet, to watch the
proceedings you would think we are dysfunctional. Players accuse each other of cheating,
umpires get fired and arguments abound.
My theory on this is
that we are part of a sport revolution. We do not follow the template of competitive
sport. According to the unwritten rules of being a fan or a player, the first
thing you look for is a villain. You
create teams and put on uniforms. What
follows is the procedure of making the best team possible. This starts by not allowing any poor players
on the team. Gradually, you get better and better players and those
who are not as good are perceived to be “hurting the team” with their presence. Soon, it becomes the nine best players
against somebody else’s nine best players.
Everyone on your own team is a good guy and everyone on the other team
is a bad guy. Success is a 20-0 win.
In our league we
take whatever players we have and attempt to make even teams. According to our template, there is no
villain. We play with and against all other players. We rejoice in exciting, close games. This is a beautiful and revolutionary vision
of sport.
Some of us are more
evolved in this understanding than
others, but none of us (with the possible exception of Marvin) are immune to
the old template. The indoctrination of
the American man from little league teams to home town fandom makes us require the enemy. If we
can’t find one in an opposing team, we create a devil in the umpire or the
players on whatever temporary team is against us on that day. We need to find anger in order to bring out
the best in us.
Will it be possible,
some day, to call on the passion of playing without the anger? I think our continued attendance, for 33 years,
early on Sunday mornings, coming to a place where we are happy to see each
other and to play close games with people of different ages and skills, is a
testament to our vision.