Cliche alert

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Sometimes (here it comes), sport is a metaphor for life. Yes, yes, it’s a horrid cliche, but things become cliches because they are true.

Sport really is a metaphor for life, some of it bad, possibly most of it good.

Here’s some good, and it comes from our Gary Fitz who wrote last week about the Merrimack High boys’ basketball team and how it had once again started to share the ball.

First this from coach Tim Goodridge: “We talked a lot this week about how we didn’t share the ball in Salem as much as we can.”

And what happened in Salem? Merrimack lost.

Sharing, Fitz wrote, “is sometimes lost on a high school basketball player.”

Why?

Because everybody wants to be a star.

If that weren’t the case, “American Idol” would be at the bottom of the television ratings chart. People watch because they see themselves.

“I bet I can do that.”

The same is true with kids and sports, sometimes. Lebron James wins a basketball game nearly single-handedly, and they think, “Wow, that’s cool. He’s a star.” But there are few players like James, especially in high school, and it behooves players to remember that.

Sharing the basketball, as Fitz wrote, is often the way to win, which is what Merrimack did against Alvirne.

“Alvirne,” Fitz wrote, “came out in a triangle-and-two defense, designed to stop Merrimack’s two biggest guns …”

And Alvirne did a good job, holding Dimitri Floras and Eric Watson to a combined 16 points. Yet Merrimack won.

Why?

Because four other players scored in double figures.

Why?

Because the Tomahawks shared the ball.

In other words, they worked as a team and got the job done.

And that’s where sport can be a metaphor for life: What’s the object in any endeavor?

To get the job done well.

In sport, that means winning. In carpentry, that means building a great house. Think you can do that alone?

Nearly everything in life takes some form of teamwork and sometimes, it’s better to have no star, just a group of hard-working people pulling toward the same goal.

Merrimack High’s boys’ basketball team did that extremely well against Alvirne and the reward was victory.

Hey, kids, remember this one. It might bring you a state championship, but more important, it’s a lesson for the rest of your life.