Lost in Translation From a Child of Monday Night Football

Let me put this on the table, I was born in 1962. The golden age of struggle and liberty of family and real sports. I was blessed to have seen the greats many today have forgotten. I used to go to the Memphis Blues AAA baseball team field to see games when Eddie Murry was a minor leaguer because some of my best friends at the time, Anthony and Ricky Duncan cousin Taylor Duncan played Third Base for the Rochester Redwings. We would shag fly ball before each game they were in Memphis, leaving me with more than 100 balls and a cracked Eddie Murray bat – which I cherished.


I was blessed. I was a child of Monday Night Football. I saw the first game. I remember the night Howard Cosell announced John Lennon had been killed, the Colts were playing. I remember bump and run coverage for in football my idols were O.J. Simpson, Dick Butkus, Fran Tarkenton, Conrad Dobler, Jack Tatum and Lester Hayes among others. I cried when my Vikings lost four supper bowels and celebrated when my Steelers won four. That was football. In baseball, I loved Luis Tiant, J.R. Richards, Oil Can Boyd, Steve Carlton, and every player on the 1971 to 1973 Oakland A’s. And Dave Winfield, well I remember seeing him win the college World Series and being MVP as a pitcher. A pitcher would would smack a ball so hard and slide head first because he was competitive and serious. But not as serious and mean as Bob Gibson. And there was difference in the NBA. With Jack Sikma, Bernard King, Walt Frazier and Mr. Sky Hook himself.



But it is not like that anymore. Now, I do not look at sports the same. Maybe it’s the plethora of commentators and sports talk folk that have never played high level sports or the prices of tickets or the salaries players make that turns me off. It really rubs me the wrong way when professional athletes and owners alike think they are not making enough money to the extent players would strike. When I was growing up, players worked regular jobs when the season was over – a sign of character and integrity blatantly missing from professional sports today.




All this talk of a strike or a lock-out, NBA or NFL is beyond reason. I mean It doesn’t make any sense. Especially when people speak of how dangerous their jobs are. When I grew up, professional athletes worked during the year – regular jobs in addition to playing their sport. Sure times have changed but the greed avarice has to stop. Like I said, I know some of yawl will say they deserve the money, that they risk life time injury, that they spent their entire life playing these games. Yes games. By this logic, they don’t deserve what they are being paid. I mean military personal (by choice) like athletes select what they desire to do. And no one anywhere can tell me that a running back or power forward does more to deserve millions of dollars than a solider or a teacher.





But again, objectivity is not of importance. What is stated as being of importance is what they do, which is entertain. Which is strangely curious to me for I cannot understand why they need more money than a person risking his life for their freedom when they already make millions? All of this is lost in translation. It’s just a game; it’s not life or death. Sure a knee injury could destroy an athlete’s career, but it aint like they stepped on an explosive device. Maybe if most athletes would finish or even attend classes while they were in a school they would be able to discern such.