Monday, July 26, 2021

TRUE CHAMPION

Yesterday, Katie Ledecky - one of the most decorated swimmers in U.S. history - did something she had never done. She lost a race for the first time in the three Olympic games at which she has competed. 

Until last night, Ledecky had won every competition she had entered and also every qualifying heat. Let that sink in. 

However, all great things must come to an end, and last night the Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus bested Ledecky by a little less than one second. This was the second straight win for Titmus over Ledecky - the last occuring in the 2019 World Championships. However, since that loss, Ledecky had made significant progress in closing the gap and actually led Titmus for 350 of the 400 meters in last night's race. Nonetheless, Titmus turned it on in the final lap and was victorious.

Undeterred, Ledecky got back in the pool and set an Olympic record in another event - the 1500 meters,  or marathon of Olympic swimming - today. She is in the final of that event and has two other events, all of which she is expected to win.

Ledecky took her first Olympic loss in stride and acknowledged that she had swam a great race. It was just that her opponent swam an even better one. What an amazing, healthy attitude!

What Ledecky did not say in her loss to Titmus, who is now queen of the 400 meter freestyle, is that this was Ledecky's third Olympics. Ledecky also did not mention that she has been studying at Stanford full time these past five years in addition to training in her free time. Ledecky made no excuses because champions do not make excuses. Champions understand that one cannot win every race, but that does not stop them from trying! Go Katie!

Sunday, July 18, 2021

A SUMMER OF SOCCER

This past month we were treated to the dual delights of the European Championships and the Copa America soccer tournaments. Both were filled with wondrous ups and downs, which leads one to conclude that football is like life, or football is life.

The first and more dramatic of the two tournaments was the European Championship 2020. No that is not a type-o. The year is correct. The organizers had to cancel this tournament last year due to COVID, so they decided to keep the year 2020 in the title. This year's edition was quite a roller coaster. It featured an on-field cardiac arrest by the young Danish star Christian Eriksen who was successfully resuscitated on the field as his teammates shielded him from the full stadium and the television cameras. 

Denmark went on to make a deep run in the tournament that ended at the hands of a fateful and - in my opinion - bogus penalty decision in a match against England that saw them eventually go out. Nonetheless, they are my team of the tournament. England made it to its first final since 1966, and there were cries all around of "It's coming home!" (shorthand for the trophy for the best in the game we started is returning to its rightful place). Italy had other things to say about that, dispensing England in a dramatic penalty shootout - one in which three of England's players - all Black - missed their shots, leading to a deluge of racist abuse. Of England, never change!

The other tournament, Copa America, featured the best teams in South America. Argentina and Brazil prevailed and made it to the final. This was in fact the fourth final Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Argentina had been to since 2014 (one World Cup and three Copa Americas). Winless the last four times, the final had an air of foreboding about it. However, on this day, Argentina and Messi triumphed! Good for him, and hopefully this will take away some of the foolish criticism of him never doing it on the biggest stage with his national team like his predecessor Diego Maradona. Hopefully this win will also lead to another Ballon d'Or trophy for best football player for Messi.

I am not sure what to do with the rest of my sports summer. Wait, the Olympics start this month, and there is more soccer to be seen!

SWEET SIXTEEN

This past week Nicholas turned sixteen. Sixteen. Let that sink in. My first born is now 16. 

In the time that he has been on this earth, Nicholas has changed so much. However, one thing remains constant. Nicholas is the sweetest person I know who constantly challenges me to be better and kinder and to think outside of my narrow worldview. Perhaps this is a gift that only the young possess, or perhaps it is a special type of person- of any age- who possesses that gift. I, for one, do not see Nicholas losing this way of being anytime soon.

When I think about Nicholas, I think about the many sustained passions he has cultivated over the years. First, it was an encyclopedic knowledge of animals. By that, I do not just mean the ability to identify an animal at a zoo or in a book. Rather, I mean the command of information related to that animal's habitat, its predators, and its place on the endangered species list! 

From there, Nicholas became and still is an expert of geography. He can name nearly any country on a map and its capital. He can also distinguish many people's national origins simply by looking at their name. Quite good skills to have! Perhaps it is this sense of inquiry that has made Nicholas so fond of traveling. With him, we have visited: Canada, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, England, and France. Who knows where we will be headed together next?

Finally, one cannot think about Nicholas without thinking about two of his greatest passions: drawing and sports. For hours or end, Nicholas draws in his room - generally screen shots from sports broadcasting shows he has captured from his computer or Ipad. These are beautiful recreations of sportscasters plying their trade, and there is a fondness in these drawing that is almost reverential. It is no surprise, that Nicholas has said that his current  professional interest is to be a sports journalist! Early this spring, he had a chance to meet Adam Schefter, an ESPN sports reporter and U of M alum, on a fundraiser for the Rogel Cancer Center. Nicholas even had the boldness to let Adam know that if they ever needed a soccer reporter that he was ready! 

As I watch Nicholas continue to grow, I wish two things for him: 1)Always follow your passion, no matter how long the odds seem or how competitive a field might be. I know this boy well enough to know that his curiosity, his devotion, and his perseverance are very special and it is those who care as much as he does about his passions who are able to get their feet in the door and then walk through to the other side. 2)Do not let the world bring you down or change you. Life is incredibly challenging, and it is easy to become jaded or cynical. The way you see the world is incredibly special and true. I hope you never lose that.

I love you son!

Thursday, July 8, 2021

BEDTIME RITUAL WITH THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

In the past few weeks, Nicholas and I have settled into a new routine in the evenings. We retire to his comfortable, new king bed so we can watch soccer matches from the European Championships or the Copa America tournament or we watch a soccer pundit show called ESPN FC on his laptop.

I feel so lucky that he and I share the same passion for soccer, a passion we cultivated together first as players when we learned the game at the same time back in 2010 during the World Cup, then as coach and player when he played recreational soccer, and finally as fans of the beautiful game, including watching him play on his club and high schools teams. 

At this point, Nicholas' soccer knowledge has far surpassed mine, but fortunately he does not mind talking about the game and watching it with his old man. I learn so much about the game, the players, geography, old ethnic hatreds, and definitely how to pronounce player names from Nicholas!

This weekend we have the Championship of both tournaments, and surely lots of screen time on his laptop watching the pundits weigh in afterwards. I can't think of what else I would rather be doing!

HOMETOWN

Recently, we took our first vacation back to Portland since moving away after 12 and a half years in 2019. We had hoped to visit last summer, but COVID had other plans for us. Therefore, we were all quite excited to finally make it back to the place that we once called home.

I was struck by many things on the visit to Portland and central Oregon, where we spent the second half of the trip. The place is physically beautiful with hills, trees, mountains, and many also a large downtown with many tall buildings! 

There are also many fun things to do in town - from restaurants to shops to outdoor recreation. Most importantly, there are more people I love in Oregon than anywhere else in the world. That is what I missed most about Portland since our move, and seeing so many friends was definitely the highlight of the trip.

Since our move, I have been thinking about Portland vs. Ann Arbor as a dichotomy. The place where I used to live vs. the place I live now. The place I felt I had outgrown professionally vs. the place where I came to achieve my potential and make the biggest difference possible.  The place that had many intractable problems - homelessness, crime, income inequality, lack of diversity - vs. our current home that lacks all those problems, though it surely has its own issues. In short, I felt trapped in the present at the expense of the past. 

However, I have come to realize that even if one can only have one home at a time, one can love more than one home at a time. I have been lucky to live in both of these places where I felt comfortable putting down some roots. I don't know how long we will be here in Ann Arbor, but I do hope that if we leave, we will leave with many amazing memories and long list of people whom we come to love as much as our friends in our old home.