The birth of a son is an opportunity to create an improved version of ourselves. We know what mistakes were made and what opportunities were squandered by our fathers. The arrival of my first son, Marty, gave me a chance to show the world just how great a man I was supposed to have been. One of my first challenges was to turn him into the athlete I had never had the remotest chance of becoming. Participation in sports is, for better or worse, the chief currency of boyhood. Arrive at a new school and make a diving catch for touchdown at your first recess and you’re guaranteed a great table in the cafeteria until graduation. It’s like having a black Amex. It’s not that I was lousy at sports when I was a kid. I’d had my share of athletic success. There were a number of games where I scored winning baskets, runs, or goals. The problem was, this mostly happened at a Jewish summer camp. Only there could a five-foot-tall guard follow his own missed jump shot and put the rebound up and in.
What do You think about Fathers & Sons & Sports (2008)?
