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Friday, Mar 29th

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Bleacher Talk

How Meaningful Are Sports/Athletics in America?

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I’ve been rambling in my column for the last several weeks – not unusual perhaps as constant deadlines combine with PTSD in creating this confusing brain-warp I am subjected to daily. Trying to focus more narrowly is of little use when one is also assaulted with other stories on similar topics from around the country...

A More Balanced View

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I’ve tried to be balanced in my recent columns about coaches (and/or teachers and parents) but have had many friends and readers tell me I have come down more harshly on the above mentioned category while seeming to give more lenience to the younger or coached set of players in the game.

There is a reason for this, at least in my mind. Empathy is more often deserved by those with the least amount of power, be it players of a game, entry-level workers, or Privates in the military.

They all need to be trained by those in power. It is a common trait they all share. When they are better trained, the equanimity gets closer together and the trainers don’t have to work nearly as hard as...

Prodigal Sons and Daughters

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It occurred to me this week while working on this column that the best reference for writing may well be the Bible. What other work has such a large volume of stories and parables as this ancient text? Whether you believe it or not – I do – the various books represent a very wide array of history, proverbs, and common sense themes. Sunday School last Sunday was a fine example, at least for me.

In the Book of Luke, Chapter 15, you can find three parables in 28 short verses, the first two contain only seven verses. The third parable, and the best known, is more detailed. In these parables, Jesus was talking about ‘lost’ things in a Biblical sense, with no mention of sports or...

Predicting a winner

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In continuing thoughts about what makes a winning team, or individual, events of the past week quickly come to mind. Yes, Virginia, (to paraphrase an almost forgotten column) there are great athletes in this world, even in a small town like Gallup.

Some of them come from the pricey homes on the hill, and some come from the depths of deprivation and want. You can’t tell which, when they are all young and of nearly equal size and stature. The differences between them and the ‘average’ child normally don’t show up until puberty, though some would claim that those who are coached, even reasonably well, from an early age are obvious to pick out before then.

In January, I learned of...

Real Coaches Make a Difference

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There are those in the world of athletics who believe in the axiom of players making the difference in the outcome of any sporting endeavor, but there is the opposite belief as well. Real coaches – the one we don’t often hear about because of our desire to elevate one individual over another – do and will make a difference.

When Miyamura became the second public high school in Gallup, one of the most offensive remarks overheard – aside from the downward change in classification size, based on student population – was that the new school was going to have all the best athletes. This outright falsification was not borne out by any real fact – Gallup’s basketball girls...

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