Lacking Gamesmanship

It was Tuesday and I was up on time after a completely satisfying night of sleep. The house was frigid after turning on the AC around 11pm. I cranked the temperature up a few notches. The coffee maker had just kicked on as I slipped into my exercise shoes and glanced out back towards the partly cloudy sky. I headed to the living room where I completed 50 sit-ups. Curls were next. Knocked out 40 of those before making a cup of coffee and heading to the PC.

It was already warm, a balmy 63 degrees, and expected to reach well into the 80s again. It was steamy too, after raining hard several times during the overnight. Read a few headlines, but mostly tinkered. Not sure how I burnt up so much time online. Walked away for meditation and a stretch at 608am. Both went pretty well.

Delivered Mindy’s coffee near 622am. Turned the ceiling fan off as I headed back downstairs. I dressed for a run still wearing long running pants and a thin long sleeved wicking shirt, but skipped the fleece. I felt comfortable out the door, but it was incredibly humid. Consequently, I worked up one heck of a sweat. Felt good though, and almost like summer.

Back home I leashed up the pug and headed out for our walk heading east down by the O’Connell’s. I hurried Eiknarf along and back to the house for eggs. I was hungry and anxious. Mindy reminded me of Jacob’s soccer game in Upper Arlington at 6pm. We’d almost certainly plan to meet there but didn’t nail any of that down during breakfast. The kids had OAA testing again today, but this time mathematics. She made them both eat eggs – brain food.

Mindy left and I headed off to the shower. I was ready and downstairs about 20 minutes later packing my lunch. We headed out at 808am. It was glorious spring morning, sunny, steamy, and warm. Once again I opted not to drive the BM’er given the day’s propensity for rain. At the bus stop Chrissy shared that Annie, their young black pug, was having some rear leg issues. Having trouble walking. Cam on suddenly after having her fixed. Kenny was taking her to the vet for x-rays and triage.

Headed back to the house where I gathered up my things and headed off to the office around 830am and then arriving near 845am. It was the first of the month so my plan all along was to pull monthly data for reports. No sense wasting a minute. I spent most of the my day pulling together that data as well as organizing a mini technical project for one of my biggest customers.

My boss pulled together a team call mid afternoon to discuss new accounts/new assignments. Looks like I’ll be crazy busy moving forward. Hopefully not too busy. Always seeking life balance. Mindy called sometime between 330-430pm to discuss soccer logistics. We agreed to meet at the Arlington soccer field by 6pm. I’d head straight there after work. I ended up sticking around the office working feverishly on monthly report data until 540pm. I bolted in a hurry or the soccer fields.

Jacob’s game was at Sunny 95 Park (formerly Langston Park) located somewhere between Reed & Kenny and Henderson and McCoy. I found it with little trouble, especially considering I’d never been there before. I arrived at 558pm and had to park quite far from the actual soccer field. I could see the game already in progress even before the scheduled start time. Mindy and Bella were camped out at the far end of the field. Mindy had a camp chair already out and waiting. She also brought me a water and a bag of nuts. Thanks Princess! She shared that my dad was son his way too.

And while it was sunny all day long, there were clouds thickening to our west. Over heard someone say storms were coming. The game remained scoreless for much of the 1st half, but Arlington scored just before the whistle. Dad didn’t arrive until almost halftime. Bella went to fetch him once we saw his minivan off in the distance.

I took notice of the way each team spent the half. Our team was all over the place, and certainly not in any way organized around the coach, Jimaken. A couple kids were clueless of what was going on and chasing each other around. In contrast, the Arlington team was gathered close and neatly around the coach fixated on his words of encouragement.

The second half started OK with a lot of back and forth but no scoring. About halfway through though the wheels fell off and Arlington scored two or three quick goals. Jacob as well as other kids on the team lost their composure and began arguing amongst themselves. Both Mindy & I hollered for Jacob to quiet down and play. It got so bad that one parent got up and gathered her chair in disgust. At the same, the weather took a turn for the worse. It wasn’t raining but thunder was very close. The refs called the game with Jacob’s team behind 5-1. Started sprinkling as we made our way to the cars. We stopped at dad’s minivan to get the eight large coffee cans he brought for nephew Joe. Jacob was lagging back with his dad. By the time I got to my car the rain picked up. When Jacob neared I asked who he was riding with. He said his mom. Mindy, I already knew, was dreading the ride home. She planned to stop for fast food. I hoped that would take the edge off.

Before I was out of the neighborhood, the rain came down in a heavy dose. It poured.
I arrived home at least 15 minutes in front of Mindy and the kids. I tended to routine chores then played on my PC. When the gang got home I could see tension in Mindy & Jacob’s eyes. Jacob even rolled his at me and made a silent gesture as if his mom were driving him crazy. While the three of them gathered around the table with Wendy’s, I warmed a leftover pork chop and macaroni.

Once the kids were off to the shower, Mindy and I chatted about how Jacob behaved at his game. She wasn’t pleased at all. I only added my halftime observation and the parent who up and readied to leave in disgust. We were both on the same page. His display of poor sportsmanship needs to stop now. However, I could sense that Mindy was personalizing his poor behavior and feeling down.

Later, I shared how we might best handle it for the long term. For one, we both agreed that Jimaken needs to get control of the on-field behavior, and we both agreed we’re not beyond walking out on the field and pulling Jacob out of a game and benching him.
We’ll even keep him home – suspended from action - if necessary.

Mindy peeled off for bed early. It couldn’t have been much after 9pm. I, on the other hand, stayed up watching the History Channel until almost 10pm.