Saints Compete

I’m down to my last underdog everybody. The New Orleans Saints narrowly escaped vacation yesterday and the metaphors for the essence of competition are too numerous to cite. From Brett Favre to Jeremy Shockey to probably every player on both sides, it’s likely that a stadium sized x-ray machine would reveal injuries for which the average man is hospitalized. Broken toes, torn ligaments and possibly mild concussions are among the maladies American football players ignore in the spirit of competition. And lest I sound too reverential, be advised that many of these men have millions of reasons to stay on that field until the last whistle sounds.

Nevertheless, in retrospect, I’m inspired by the effort of all four teams that played this weekend because when we think about it, is there ever a day you don’t feel hampered by some injury, some frustration, some inconvenience? If you answered yes that’s fine because I have those days too but they’re few. And as I got in the car to leave my home last night just before the Saints and Vikings entered OT, I was thinking about my basketball league game that was to start in about an hour. I was superficially excited to play meaning I was thinking of just “gettin’ a run in”. I did just that too, playing nearly the whole game but failing to compete for the 40 minutes we play in said league. What I mean is that I did not leave it all out there as they say. I missed shots I normally make and passed on certain rebounds because of fatigue. And there’s any number of average citizens who would have let me off the hook in a post game conference if they did those for weekend warrior leagues. “You played yesterday, remember? You’re 34 years old. Hey, they don’t pay you to do this. At least you got a sweat in,” others would say. But imagine that same set of rationalizations applied outside of sports. “Hey you had a conversation with your kid yesterday, you can’t be expected to do that everyday. Your students could do without the encouragement this time. It’s Monday for crying out loud.”

Enough with the getting off the hook already. This is self-preaching but if it fits… In Christianity, those who ascribe to faith in Jesus Christ are called Saints. It’s a term many shun because of connotations the word has of being perfect. But be advised as I am. Those Saints weren’t perfect yesterday. They just competed.