Watching Sports, Watching Novato, Watching the Country

I was born a Giants fan. Some of my earliest memories are of watching the Giants play the hated Dodgers. Seeing Marichal and Perry battle Koufax and Drysdale was magical. We listened to every game on the radio. When the A's came to town, my folks took us to the very first game. I decided then to be an A's fan too, but was told that I couldn't be both. I had to choose one or the other, so the Giants won out. Privately, I was still an A's fan too.

Back in those days, Notre Dame football games were broadcast on  radio nationwide. We listened to all their games because they were a Catholic school and we were Catholics, a fait accompli. Sundays was reserved for the Niners and the Raiders. We were allowed to root for both because they played in entirely different leagues. I was an avid Niner fan, but never really liked the Raiders, except for Lamonica deep to Wells - a thing of beauty. I think part of it was that I had an uncle who lived and breathed the Raiders and hated the Niners. After a Raider loss, he was not a person you wanted to be around.

Basketball was the Warriors, and for a while the Oakland Oaks of the ABA. I rooted for both. The Oaks didn't last long, but I liked them because they came to our playground when I was a kid and they were really nice to us. And, they had Rick Barry, who defected from the Warriors briefly.

Hockey was easiest. We had the Oakland Seals and that was it. No other hockey team so no need to choose sides.

It's a funny thing about rooting for a specific team and desiring a specific outcome - that they win. Avid fans are happy when they win and bummed when they lose. When they watch the games, a good play by our team is good and enjoyable, a good play by the other team is bad and therefore painful to watch, especially if it helped the other team win. Life is a constant roller coaster - up for wins and down for losses.

One day, well into adulthood (OK well into my 30s) something changed. I was bored, so I turned on the TV to watch whatever teams were playing. It occured to me that I didn't care at all who won the game. I saw the game in an entirely different way. I was able to appreciate a good play, without caring who made it. I was able to appreciate the skill and athleticism of the players. I tried it again watching a basketball game and had the same great experience. It was like watching a ballet, watching the players dance, weave and leap.

The next step took a lot more effort. I started watching games of "my" teams without being attached to the outcome. The games were so much more fun. I didn't need my teams to win for me to have a good time. Freedom!

I was reminded of all this as I was reading about Tuesday night's school board meeting. I've been bothered by the number of people I have heard and read about who were trashing the board members, generalizing their displeasure with one decision or another to a call for removal of the entire board. Having spent some time as a school board member and an attendee at lots of meetings over the years, I've noted that when people come in to protest a decision or policy, the battle lines are carved in stone, greatly limiting an atmosphere of civil discourse and the possibility of reaching a compromise or accomodation. I have been guilty of this myself and I were to speak out on those issues again, I would do it differently.

This is not limited to Novato by any means. The arguments over the California and federal budgets. The posing and posturing politicians trapped in their parties' agendas are unwilling to break through the acrimony, and see each other as human beings who all ultimately want to do the right thing given the chance.

I had an intense dislike of Richard Nixon and virtually everthing he did. The man was a horrible president. But, I remind myself, the EPA was established during his presidency. People compromised and got it done. Would though that that would be the norm.