Tradition and History

So, I am on a bit of a vacation. I have had the opportunity to go to both the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. I had been to Cooperstown before when I was younger, but it has been about 20 years. I had never been to the Pro Football Hall of Fame before. Both of these current experiences were great. Seeing the history of the two major sports in our country and walking down the long, sometimes difficult paths that were followed by each sports’ athletes is not something that I will soon forget. It got me thinking a lot about tradition in sports. History and tradition are not mutually exclusive. While football has a lot of history, the traditions have been fluid. Baseball has both a long history and traditions that stand the test of time. That is not to say that football is devoid of tradition. I remember every Thanksgiving, going to watch my town’s high school play their last regular season game of the year and then coming home and camping out in front of the TV to watch the NFL games while waiting for Thanksgiving dinner. It was our Thanksgiving tradition. But if I were to ask a broad spectrum of people what the traditional way the umpire starts a baseball game, any baseball game, I have the suspicion that just about anybody, no matter their age or background, would respond with “Play Ball!!”.

Red Grange

Football has a long and storied history. It is sometimes tragic, sometimes inspiring. The rules were changed and then changed again. If your average football fan were transported back 100 years, I doubt any of us would recognize the game that we love. Even in the modern Super Bowl era, the game that I watched as a kid is vastly different from the one we watch on Sundays in the fall. There are traditions that overshadow this changing history. Thanksgiving Day games being the primary one that comes to mind. The coin toss, what many believe to be a staple of the game has even morphed into different iterations over the years. So football…long on history, but with fluidity in tradition. This is not a bad thing.

Marshawn Lynch

It speaks to the lasting power of the game and also to its resurgence in popularity over that past couple of decades. They understand where they came from and can adapt to changing times in order to stay relevant. It is a game which is able to mirror the tendencies of the populace and give us what we want to see. More defense, then more offense, touchdowns, more contact, less contact…it remains valid through injury concerns and a need for us to witness the cathartic violence that is inherent in the game. There is a reason why football is the most popular game right now and the traditions are sometimes sacrificed on the altar of approval.

Ty Cobb

Baseball, on the other hand, is both long on history and holds, almost fanatically, to tradition. The equipment has changed with technology, but the game that Honus Wagner played is virtually identical to the game we see all across the country today. The home team bats in the bottom of the inning, the mound is 60’6” from home plate. The call of “Tinker to Evers to Chance” could very well be heard on the MLB network or through the musical baritone of Vin Scully, instead of happening over a century ago. The bats and gloves may have changed, but baseball is the one sport where you can statistically compare, with accuracy, Ty Cobb and Mike Trout. Baseball is a time machine. We are able to examine our history through this simple game. To quote the late actor Trey Wilson in Bull Durham: “Baseball is a simple game; you throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball”. You go to any sandlot or little league ballpark or minor league stadium or major league cathedral, you see the same game, being played by the same rules and with the same reverence. I once saw some kids act out the 7^th inning stretch of a sandlot game. They went so far as to have one of the kids do a, reasonably spot-on, Harry Carey impersonation. This type of tradition, for purists, is what keeps baseball at the upper echelon of sport. Even with popularity lagging in the last few years, baseball remains our national pastime.

Mike Trout

Neither of these makes one game better than the other. They are two sides of the same coin. The fabric of our collective story. Providing us with exciting moments that we can relive in our yards, as children and then with our own children. I just consider myself lucky to have been brought up loving both of these great games. I am even luckier to have been able to see both of these halls in the same week, and to be there with my son.

The Triple Crown

  I realize that this is generally going to be a blog about football and other sports that require helmets (something that this company is all about, if I remember correctly). Today, however, I need to point out another achievement that some would argue is even more amazing than any Hail-Mary, or game winning home run in the bottom of the ninth, or dramatic overtime playoff goal…The Triple Crown of horse racing. For those of you with a less-than-passing interest in horse racing, that is The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness Stakes, and The Belmont Stakes. Admittedly, I am not a very big horse racing fan, Jai Alai is my choice when it comes to betting on sports. I guess this goes to show you that this was a big event. I do find it odd that as uninterested as I am, generally, in horse racing, that this is the second blog entry in a row where I am talking about it. I will usually watch the Triple Crown races, but that is about where my interest in “The Sport of Kings” ends. Funny thing, life.

  Now, winning the Triple Crown is a feat which had only been accomplished twice in my lifetime, and those were in back-to-back years. I am a bicentennial baby, born in the year 1976. The following year, a dark brown colt named Seattle Slew won his first two Triple Crown races by just over a length each, then he raced away to his third victory of the Triple Crown season by 4 lengths. The following year, 1978, a chestnut brown colt with the demonstrative name Affirmed, beat Alydar at the Belmont in one of the most exciting finishes to a sporting event that has ever been seen. This feat has been accomplished 12 times in the last 96 years. On the average, that wouldn’t seem like a big deal (once every 8 years). However, between 1930 and 1948, it was done 7 times. By comparison, between 1920 and 1967, the Batting Triple Crown was won 11 times. Carl Yastrzemski was the last player to complete the honor until Miguel Cabrera did it in 2012. My point here is that both of these feats are incredible sights to behold and ones that we are privileged to have seen.

  American Pharaoh is an athlete. Just as much of an athlete as any other professional or amateur out there, striving to be at the top of his (or her) game. I have seen all types of athletes throughout my life. Some are more gifted than others, some work harder than others. The rare few who can combine the raw, natural ability with a work ethic that would make the rest of us curl up into a ball, in the corner, and cry, are those who achieve greatness. Go back and watch the last turn and the home stretch from last week’s race and tell me that horse didn’t just dominate his opponents. He shifted into another gear that the rest of the field simply did not possess. American Pharaoh wanted that race. Animals may not have the same understanding of the business of sport, but tell your dog that she is a good girl for doing something…anything, and watch her beam with pride. They get it. Animals have been competing in a primal, deadly struggle longer than we have been able to write about it. This translates perfectly to sport. They just want to beat their opponents. One last horse racing example: at the Belmont Stakes in 1999, Charismatic broke his front left leg in the final furlong. Jockey Chris Antley could tell that something had happened and tried to pull him up before the wire. Charismatic can be seen fighting his jockey to finish the race. As soon as he was able, Antley jumped off and fell to the ground, protecting the leg until help could arrive. This action very likely saved Charismatic’s life. That horse wanted to win, running through the pain of a broken leg. All he knew was that he wanted to beat the other athletes on the track.

  There are lessons that can be learned from any athletic endeavor, triumph, or failure. What I learned while watching American Pharaoh on Saturday was that the drive for success spans species. We are on this planet for whatever reasons we feel are best, but primarily to succeed. To triumph over our own mortality and weaknesses, to make it a better place for our children. Athletics can and do help us to realize that eternal struggle. In my mind, on the field, ice, court, track…wherever, there is as much that can be learned in defeat as there can in victory. Not everyone deserves a medal, but American Pharaoh earned his.

Good boy! Have a sugarcube on me.