VOL. XV, NO. 3
NOVEMBER 9, 1973
Bench Beat
By BROCK AKERS
Work means different things to different people. For instance, to a businessman it may mean a nine to five day, making and keeping appointments with a two hour break in between for lunch. For a teacher it may mean baby‑sitting nine periods and grading an occasional paper or two, (when they have time). For students, it may mean wading through texts, pushing a pen and staying awake, three tasks that many find insurmountable.
But for the athlete it means much more. It means sitting in class for a day and then traipsing out onto the practice field for some fun. The fun consists of work, hard work, not the kind that gives you writer's cramp or bloodshot eyes - but bruises and tired, aching muscles.
Each athlete in each different sport works differently. But who in sports works the most? Is it football, whose team bang heads, throw blocks, footballs, and run up and down 5,000 square yards of turf? Do they work the most?
What about the cross country team whose claim to fame is as one gym teacher so aptly put it, "run a hundred miles and not get tired" as well as win tournaments. After all, the harriers break few bones, (except when they play football, eh Pete?), but granted they exert themselves to a point that one‑tenth of which would kill an average person. But do they work the most?
Work means different things to different people. For instance, to a businessman it may mean a nine to five day, making and keeping appointments with a two hour break in between for lunch. For a teacher it may mean baby‑sitting nine periods and grading an occasional paper or two, (when they have time). For students, it may mean wading through texts, pushing a pen and staying awake, three tasks that many find insurmountable.
But for the athlete it means much more. It means sitting in class for a day and then traipsing out onto the practice field for some fun. The fun consists of work, hard work, not the kind that gives you writer's cramp or bloodshot eyes - but bruises and tired, aching muscles.
Each athlete in each different sport works differently. But who in sports works the most? Is it football, whose team bang heads, throw blocks, footballs, and run up and down 5,000 square yards of turf? Do they work the most?
What about the cross country team whose claim to fame is as one gym teacher so aptly put it, "run a hundred miles and not get tired" as well as win tournaments. After all, the harriers break few bones, (except when they play football, eh Pete?), but granted they exert themselves to a point that one‑tenth of which would kill an average person. But do they work the most?
How about the soccer team? They combine contact with running, and they all have to kick a ball around. Do they work the most?
Basketball players run a lot, and the baseball team is supposed to hustle even on a walk. But do they work the most?
Let's not forget the intramural badminton players, whose sport combines speed, timing, skill, dexterity, brute strength and stamina. But do they work the most?
A good way to determine who works hardest is to see who sweats the most. And using that criteria as your guide, it is clear that the person on the playing surface who works the most is the referee. After all he has to run, argue, blow his whistle, and the sight problem they all seem to suffer from doesn't help much.
So the next time you see a player request that the ref not signal a touchdown, you know why.
Basketball players run a lot, and the baseball team is supposed to hustle even on a walk. But do they work the most?
Let's not forget the intramural badminton players, whose sport combines speed, timing, skill, dexterity, brute strength and stamina. But do they work the most?
A good way to determine who works hardest is to see who sweats the most. And using that criteria as your guide, it is clear that the person on the playing surface who works the most is the referee. After all he has to run, argue, blow his whistle, and the sight problem they all seem to suffer from doesn't help much.
So the next time you see a player request that the ref not signal a touchdown, you know why.