Knuckles Down

Thought For The Day

I was thinking about sports.

When I was a boy the first competitive activity that I can recall is marbles. That was real competition since losing meant giving up your marbles. That was a horrible idea and why many games were prefaced with the comments,  "Playing for fun. or Playing for keeps." . You learn a good deal about your opponents in competition. It is often where cheating emerges as a real concept in one's life. Rules and who makes them is also a part of this learning opportunity and the fine art of cheating or misleading.

Knuckles down, plunking, histing and lagging - all terms that set conditions for the game. It could have been the training ground for lawyers, surgeons, salesmen and entrepreneurs. There is no place like a playground and no commodity like a pocket full of marbles to teach caution, fear, greed, strategy and intimidation.

When I watch my grandchildren play with their friends marbles is rarely an activity I encounter. One of the reasons marbles was a good training ground was it's lack of adult supervision. That kind of activity brings out the more natural state of humans. In the "kids only" arena, size, strength, intelligence, knowledge, manipulation and guile surface rather quickly and the commodity is seized by those who accumulate and handle those characteristics the best.

Do kids play marbles these days? I don't think I have seen a game of marbles for many years. What I do see is a bunch of very well managed children, supported by parents and grandparents wearing uniforms and equipment that only existed for the professionals when I was a kid.  And, they get trophys for just showing up. They get snacks and drinks served by their parents and the cost of these activities is amazing.

I don't remember what a bag of marbles cost and it's irrelevant anyway. The point is marbles was  a bit like a board room conference or a strategy meeting or sales presentation. I'm not sure how I would compare today's youth activities with business, but entitled, selfish, greedy and lazy  are adjectives that come to mind.

There are lots of reasons why we are in this state of affairs that isn't working out very well, but it just doesn't seem like anyone is willing to say, "Knuckles down!"

©Herb Ratliff, May 30, 2012, All Rights Reserved