It is now the end of January, the time of year when we start thinking about the softball games that will be starting up in April. Leagues are being formed, teams are reconnecting and hard decisions have to be made. Those choices begin with, am I going to play this year? Is it time for me to move to a different position with less running or that doesn’t require quick reflexes? I moved from third to second base just because my arm hurts. And of course the most important decisions. Is it time to move our team from the open league to the over 40’s. (For me at 59 there is no decision but for the 40 year olds they want to stay in the open league.) The next series of questions is when are the games. I’m not sure I can still play a double header that starts at 7 and won’t end until well after 10. Which means that by the time I get home, ice and all of my parts, take a shower and tylenol and try and relax it is well past midnight. Way too late for me. There is a reason why they call the over 40’s league the “hamstring league.” Someone always pulls a hamstring. No matter how much we stretch we still think we can run to first base full speed. It is also why our roster is 20 guys. You would think we would learn.
There is a story about a church looking for a new pastor. They convene a committee to survey the congregation to decide what are the characteristics they would like in their next spiritual leader. After much work the results are compiled and a succinct list is generated.
1.Preaches exactly 12 minutes.
2. Frequently condemns sin but never upsets anyone.
3. Works from 8 a.m. until midnight and is also a janitor.
4. Makes $60 a week, wears good clothes, buys good books, drives a good car, and gives about $80 a week to the poor.
5. 28 years of age and has been preaching for 30 years.
6. Wonderfully gentle and good-looking.
7. A burning desire to work with teenagers, but is always with the senior citizens.
8. Makes 15 daily calls to church families, visits shut-ins and the hospitalized, evangelizes the unchurched, and is always in the office when needed.
While the list is funny because it is filled with mutually exclusive tasks, it is the one that says, “28 years of age and has been preaching for 30 years” that is particularly on point. It is the challenge of age and experience. It happens that we periodically stumble on the phenom, the athlete who from a very young age “sees the whole court”. They get the big picture and they still have the athleticism of youth to be able to do what they imagine is possible. They can run all over the court while at the same time slow the game down in order to utilize the talents of others in team sport. Or they can slow the game down enough in individual sports so as to capitalize on their opponents’ weaknesses. They have the mental game and the physical game.
As the science of nutrition and recovery advances we are seeing some athletes extend their careers well beyond the years others have been able to accomplish. Of course there have always been athletes who have had extended careers such as Satchel Paige who played baseball until he was 59 or Jaromír Jágr who played hockey until 52 and of course the great Martina Navrotolova who played tennis until she was 49. However, an argument can be made that the sport wasn’t as demanding as it is today. That is why we are amazed by the longevity of Tom Brady who played football for a grueling 23 seasons or Alexander Ovechkin who is now playing the incredibly brutal sport of hockey at 39 years old or ofcourse Novak Djokovic who at 37 years old was competing for his 25 Major title against guys who are 21 (Carlos Alcarz) and 23 (Jannik Sinner) years old. Sport is usually for the young. And those of us who claim to have been athletes at earlier stages of our lives are even more amazed by the longevity of these elder athletes.
We compete in age appropriate categories or even sports. Some of us have moved from tennis to pickleball or just play in an over 60 leagues. We are happy now that we lumped in with older athletes because our running times are being compared to other people our own age. Regardless of the articles we see written for example in the New York Times claiming that we Can Hit Peak Fitness After 40 we understand that our best days are behind us.
There is a wonderful phenomenon that we are seeing emerge today which while entertaining maybe teach us something interesting. LeBron James celebrated his 40th birthday this past December, and he made history once again. He became the first player in NBA history to play both as a teenager and in his 40s. Yes he has tremendous longevity. Yes he came to the NBA straight out of high school. However, for me the more exciting development is the fact that LeBron James and his son Bronny James became the first father-son duo to play in an NBA game during the Los Angeles Lakers’ season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves in October 2024.
The idea that a child will follow in his father’s footsteps is not uncommon. Children go into the family business all the time and if they listen carefully to the advice of their parents they can become extremely successful. We hear stories all of the time about kids who take their parents’ business to the next level. A national success can be turned into a global success. A million dollar company can become a billion dollar enterprise. It is the combination of the drive of youth with the wisdom of age that is the recipe for success.
This week two of the top basketball prospects in the 2025 class, twins Cameron & Cayden Boozer (sons of Carlos Boozer) have committed to the Duke basketball program. Cameron Boozer is ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect (No. 1 PF), while Cayden Boozer is ranked as the No. 21 overall prospect (No. 5 PG). Carlos Boozer went to Duke and I can only imagine the influence Carlos had in their choice to play basketball in the first place and their choice to go to Duke.
Parents give their children a set of genes that may lead them to a field that is similar to theirs. It doesn’t hurt that Cameron is 6’9 and Cayden is 6’4. I’m sure they connected with their dad over talking shop and in this case basketball. I imagine dad going to watch their biddy basketball games and giving them some off the court advice. I imagine them sitting around the t.v. criticizing the basketball games they were watching and the sage advice dad gave them as they construct their careers, which in this case means going to college in the first place. The unbeatable combination of age and wisdom is unstoppable.
There is no question that parents can give with one hand and take with the other. They can give the steely nerves and the amazing eye hand coordination while they live lives that are often pathetic and teach their kids what not to do. You don’t need to look far to find examples of children of super athletes who won’t go anywhere near the sports of their parents because they know they cannot live up to their triumphs or because they see what the fame, glory and wealth did to their parents.
Weekend warriors wish we could still do what we once could do but you know what George Bernard Shaw was quoted as having said “Youth is wasted on the young.”
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