The thrill of victory...the agony of defeat. I remember that was some kind of tagline for a sports show which I never watched. I have never been into sports. Neither has Ned. Nor Maxnor Ben. For me it was just that I doubted my physical abilitiesand didn't find out that I had them until my forties! For Nedit was not an interestnot even on his radar. For Max and Bennot liking sports seems almost to be a cultural choicea way of defining themselves away from the pack.
Nat has no such baggage. So he has (pretty much) always been willing to try any sportand Special Olympics was the place to go. There were other organizations that welcomed himbut somehow the magic was not there -- or else Nat's development wasn't thereor the team was a bad matchor something.
Nat played in the state qualifiers last Sundayalong with all of his teammates -- both the team he practices with here at home on Saturdaysand the team he practices with at The House during the week.
Nat's team lost both games. And this made me realize that the media should always cover Special Olympics statewide eventsthe same way they cover "Regular" school statewide sports. You'll seeat the end of a given seasona big spread on this-or-that high school athletethe one who helped their team win for the year at the state championships. You'll see shots of students scoring goalsor their headshots when they've been given a scholarship to college becasue of their athletic success.
But you'll pretty much never see media coverage of Special Olympics unless it is in the human interest sections of the newspaper. A feel-good story. And of coursethat makes sense because Special Olympics does make everyone feel good. But then everyone misses the bigger point: that it is a sports competition.
At the state qualifiersI saw Nat's team play together for the first time. I met the teammates and assessed them in my head. I wondered if this one or that one could shoot and score; I wondered how skilled Nat would be this year. When the game started I saw the Unified Players run their asses offand then during a time-out or a substitutionI listened to how they would whisper with each other about the rival team's strategies (YesI said strategies!!). I also heard our Unified Players (non-special needs) saying with a little bit of anxiety: "They're running plays!" and then figure outwith the coacheswhat to dowho to put in when. I saw tight-lipped coachesand persnickety refs. I wanted Nat to be put in more. But he was not as much on his game that daylet's face it!
I also saw the teammates do fist bumps and high-fives whenever one of them made a basketand the pride on their faces. The way some of them just could not stop looking at their mothersand so would miss the ball. The way one of them did not know which basket to shoot at.
Our team lost both games. Stillin the larger worldthe newspapers report on the Colts as well as the Saintsright? You want to read all about what happened. The brilliant playsthe failed plays. The thing you could have done better than that guyor the thing that makes that guy a god.
It is the same at SO. And in additionthere is the knowledge of all the SO athletes' personal challenges that they push themselves to overcome. At the Special Olympicsno one is phoning it in.
Veryvery "special," as you might sayand so endearing that we felt tidal waves of tears whenever anything happened -- disappointing or wonderful.
You wouldtoo. If you could find the story anywhere else but here.
Nat has no such baggage. So he has (pretty much) always been willing to try any sportand Special Olympics was the place to go. There were other organizations that welcomed himbut somehow the magic was not there -- or else Nat's development wasn't thereor the team was a bad matchor something.
Nat played in the state qualifiers last Sundayalong with all of his teammates -- both the team he practices with here at home on Saturdaysand the team he practices with at The House during the week.
Nat's team lost both games. And this made me realize that the media should always cover Special Olympics statewide eventsthe same way they cover "Regular" school statewide sports. You'll seeat the end of a given seasona big spread on this-or-that high school athletethe one who helped their team win for the year at the state championships. You'll see shots of students scoring goalsor their headshots when they've been given a scholarship to college becasue of their athletic success.
But you'll pretty much never see media coverage of Special Olympics unless it is in the human interest sections of the newspaper. A feel-good story. And of coursethat makes sense because Special Olympics does make everyone feel good. But then everyone misses the bigger point: that it is a sports competition.
At the state qualifiersI saw Nat's team play together for the first time. I met the teammates and assessed them in my head. I wondered if this one or that one could shoot and score; I wondered how skilled Nat would be this year. When the game started I saw the Unified Players run their asses offand then during a time-out or a substitutionI listened to how they would whisper with each other about the rival team's strategies (YesI said strategies!!). I also heard our Unified Players (non-special needs) saying with a little bit of anxiety: "They're running plays!" and then figure outwith the coacheswhat to dowho to put in when. I saw tight-lipped coachesand persnickety refs. I wanted Nat to be put in more. But he was not as much on his game that daylet's face it!
I also saw the teammates do fist bumps and high-fives whenever one of them made a basketand the pride on their faces. The way some of them just could not stop looking at their mothersand so would miss the ball. The way one of them did not know which basket to shoot at.
Our team lost both games. Stillin the larger worldthe newspapers report on the Colts as well as the Saintsright? You want to read all about what happened. The brilliant playsthe failed plays. The thing you could have done better than that guyor the thing that makes that guy a god.
It is the same at SO. And in additionthere is the knowledge of all the SO athletes' personal challenges that they push themselves to overcome. At the Special Olympicsno one is phoning it in.
Veryvery "special," as you might sayand so endearing that we felt tidal waves of tears whenever anything happened -- disappointing or wonderful.
You wouldtoo. If you could find the story anywhere else but here.