| Submit your comments on this article |
| Courage |
| 2011-02-14 |
| I went to an indoor soccer game today and looked upon the face of bravery. Two of my grandsons, Sporkleman and Gus, play on the same team in the 8-12 year old league. My son, Officer Friendly, coaches. We arrived while the kids were having their pre-game practice and I immediately noticed that their Green team looked a little light. There was Sporky and Gus, a gangly Indian or Pakistani boy with glasses, and two cute little blond girls. None looked older than nine. The two little girls looked about six, though they had to be at least eight. The rest of their team hadn't shown up. The other team, the formidable Oranges, were also practicing. They not only looked up to strength, they looked like they'd brought friends. Where our team was at the lower end of the age spread, theirs was closer to the upper. At least one of the boys looked old enough to drive. Three of the girls looked old enough to be dating and one of them looked marriageable. The Greens had the choice of forfeiting or getting clobbered. Officer Friendly somehow recruited three kids who just happened to be there. Maybe he drafted them. Maybe he promised them signing bonuses. I think they were siblings of kids on the Orange team. They played in street clothes and they were as good as anyone on the Greens and many on the Oranges, even though one brought to mind Steve Urkle. I've seen games where the Greens have played all over the floor, just chasing the ball. That wasn't today. All of them played their hearts out. Sporky, who had woken up with a headache this morning and hadn't intended to play, played guard, a skinny, awkward looking kid who kept at it, regardless: miss one, try for the next. Gus, who's short for his age and delicate looking, roamed the floor, aggressively trying to get his foot on the ball. The gangly kid with glasses was never still, always in there, once getting trampled. Julie, the little girl who played goalie the second half, proudly displayed the fresh scrapes on her knees. Steve Urkle was surprisingly good, making one of the two goals our kids managed. I'm not sure who made the other. Maybe it was an accident. The final score was 9-2, I think, which is a clobbering. But our Greens earned those two goals, and they earned the admiration of all the parents and grandparents there. They lost, but the other side knew they'd been in a game. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Terrific story. Sporkleman and Gus sounds like a Toontown law firm. |
| Posted by: Pollyandrew 2011-02-14 16:31 |
| #2 Ditto what T.W. said. An American kind of story. Keep going against the odds. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2011-02-14 15:03 |
| #1 A lovely story, Fred. Thank you. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-02-14 14:38 |