November 30, 2015
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A Thin Line of Defense
November 30, 2015, Chino Valley- A couple of things happened yesterday, which made me realize, again, that life and fortune are fleeting things- if for no other reason than that we might come to value them.
The New England Patriots lost their first game of this season, which was not surprising, given that most of their marquee players are injured. I hear and read so many sports commentators rail about injuries, and how they “cheat” good teams of victories- as if there is some sort of injury puppet master out there, just waiting to mess up everyone’s good time.
The fact remains, professional sports, especially American football, and ice hockey, are intensely physical sports, given to the sorts of injuries that derail golden dreams. The film, “Concussion”, which enters theaters on Christmas, will outline some aspects of the nature, and impact, of injury on the practice and business of professional sports. The recent revelations about the injuries suffered by the late, legendary Frank Gifford underscore the media’s spotlight on the matter.
The second reminder came as I was driving. A mobile home, pulling a flatbed trailer, with a motorcycle on it, was about 500 feet in front of me, on a lonely stretch of road, between the small towns of Aguila and Congress, in west central AZ. The driver either was nodding off, or misjudged the width of the road, because the trailer’s front right rim hit a signpost, and bounced a bit. Shards of metal flew back, but fell to the road in front of my safely braking Nissan. The driver of the mobile home slowly, but steadily, brought the vehicle to a stop on the shoulder of the road. Two vehicles behind me were able to more safely pull in behind the RV, and render assistance. Everyone must have been okay, as I didn’t see any fire trucks or police cars headed from Congress, which has the nearest First Responders. My cell phone had no service, in that area, so the best thing I could have done was to keep on going, which I did.
I thought of how narrow a skin of life we have, and of how close I was, being saved from harm only by staying a safe number of car lengths back. Time must have more in store, for all concerned.
Comments (4)
Hello. You still travel around the US?
Professional sports take a tremendous physical toll on the players. My son for a long time felt resentment that I refused to let him play football - now he is glad. A friend he met at work was a HS player and has really bad knees due to the beating his knees took.
@dinhtrinh: I have been more homebound lately, working daily at a local school. The past weekend was a major holiday in the U.S., so I visited my son, in San Diego.
@murisopsis: The knees, and everything else, are not thankful to their owner, when abused in the name of sports.
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