At a youth sports convention I attended, I recall the keynote speaker mentioning that if you thought a particular sport was boring or you didn't like it, chances were highly likely that you couldn't play that sport, had a bad experience with that sport or just didn't give it a chance to prove itself.
I tend to agree.
I've heard baseball is boring, soccer is boring, golf, tennis and synchronized swimming are boring. The list goes on and on.
In certain instances, I can relate to a parent watching little Johnny stand in right field for an entire six innings without so much as sniffing a ball or a goalie in soccer standing lifeless while all the action is at the other end.
Face it. It happens. There's no way around it. If you want to blame someone, though, go back 100 years and voice your displeasure to the inventors of the sport and ask them, 'What were you thinking?'
Just don't say it's boring. Boring to me was lying around a studio apartment, fresh out of college on a Friday night, with no money, no girlfriend, all my friends in Las Vegas, my TV broken and having nothing to eat but a hard-boiled egg in the fridge and a six-month-old box of Wheaties atop the counter. Now, that's boring!
Anyone making boring comments obviously fails to take into account the mastery, the work ethic and practice the players have to put in to perfect their skills and reach a high level of competition.
At one time or another, we've probably all made comments of this nature, and I myself have made them in jest. But at no time have I disrespected the people involved nor the pride they take in what they do.
Not a day goes by that the 'boring' comment is disproved in some shape or form.
Take my daughter's view of golf. She always used to comment that all golf appeared to be was hitting a little white ball in a hole and win a million dollars. As luck and fate would have it, I was watching the end of a golf tournament one day and before she had a chance to roll her eyes, pro golfer Tom Kite hit a hole-in-one, and, get this, won a million dollars. We both laughed for days.
I used to loathe soccer. After attending an Olympic soccer event in 1984, which ended in a 0-0 tie, I surmised soccer was indeed boring. When my daughter and son started competing on select teams, I started to understand the game more and appreciate the nuances and strategy involved.
Playing goalie in a pickup game while on vacation in Ixtapa changed my thinking as well. With shots whizzing by me like aspirin tablets, I figured there was a lot more to this international sport than meets the eye.
Because of my past history, I've never thought baseball was boring unless, lately, you've been watching our current two local major league professional teams. Both are spending an enormous amount of time on defense and can't seem to get anyone out. Yes, to the average fan, that's becoming very monotonous.
I've figured out a clever way, however, to make a few of these games more interesting.
On every hole in a golf tournament, they should have a long drive contest, closest to the pin, most accurate drive, Las Vegas betting hole and a putting contest. Wouldn't you like to see a golfer betting his overall winnings on a chip shot?
In soccer it's simple. Don't have any offsides calls during the entire game and don't have a goalie for the last three minutes. This would encourage cherry-picking styles of offense and a proverbial shootout at the end. Most likely we could do away with shootouts and ties would be rare.
Want tennis to receive a surge in popularity? When hitting or serving, every square becomes point-worthy and each square carries a different point value. And faults in serving are done away with - hit it anywhere!
I don't have an answer for synchronized swimming, but if you enlist the gentleman who choreographed the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Beijing, I'm sure he can come up with something. After all, he had so many bodies flying everywhere in unison that I'm sure he would have a solution.
Believe me, youth sports are not boring, and unless you use my aforementioned outlandish rule changes, you'll have to respect and accept the nature of the beast in all of them. Strategy and excitement are a part of every play, shot or maneuver. Be optimistic, not ignorant. Your child could someday become the most proficient player in a sport you considered boring.
Rich Taylor has been coaching youth sports for over 25 years and formerly scouted and coached in professional baseball. His column, A Sideline View, appears once a week. Reach him at rjtaylor23@yahoo.com
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