PEORIA -- Here's a guest commentary by Ed Dentino, a good break from the crashing financial markets:
On Sports and Life by Ed Dentino
“It's not if you win. It's not even how you play. It's how you value yourself and what you learn when the game is over that really counts.”
-- Lou Tice, The Pacific Institute
Lots of adults and children engage in activities for reasons other than to climb a ladder or be the top dog.
We have become a culture of people over-hyping and over-paying sports players, racers, entertainment personalities, and even corporate heads based on a myth that their high achievement is so singular that the parts and participation of others is diminished.
We used to be a country that valued every effort and contribution to the well being of our nation. That reached a peak in World War II and continued momentum through the 1950s. The Vietnam era started the change that pulled the country away from that basic value.
There were and still are localized identities based on race, economic strata, religion, national origin. These are getting blurred as men and women of various groups achieve in sports, business and politics the status and power that was, prior 1950 largely the domain of the WASP – white anglosaxon protestant people.
My personal experience with sports does not include very much of the organized competitive sports. I was pretty athletic, played many sports as a kid growing up and later through life.
I played sandlot street baseball, football, basketball games and backyard badminton. At Roosevelt School, in my weight class, I was fairly fast running, tried basketball and football - did not have enough size or motivation. I remember bowling at the old Peoria Auto Parts bowling lanes for a couple of seasons. Used a pair of my Dad's old bowling shoes and got the lanes user balls to participate.
Dad and I went to Proctor Center almost every summer night and I played tether ball, which I excelled in. Two of the outstanding tether ball players I recall were Grant Morgan who I played a lot and learned from, and Gene Abraham, who only played a couple of times but was excellent- great speed and timing, the natural.
I began playing tennis at 13 at Proctor Center. Mr Dixon, a coach from Pekin instructed the first year, and Ross Canterbury, now a Peoria attorney instructed the second.
During my Manual High School years, I went to the YMCA three or four days and evenings a week. Was a Junior Leader in the gym, under Mike Chinakas. I remember Manual friend Stan Burke and Central High School friend Cliff Guenter were also Junior Leaders. Stan became a teacher, then later a teacher's union administrator. Did gym stuff, handball, and squash rackets, and table tennis at the YMCA. I recall table tennis player Adrian Hinton was especially helpful and coached me a bit.
Played intramural basketball at Manual High School. Our team did very well. I recall Mr. Aiello was the director/scorekeeper. Years later seeing Mr Aiello at a care home, I always asked: "Mr Aiello, we're have a basketball game - Can you keep score?" That always got a smile from him.
In my Manual sophomore year, I encouraged Principal Mr. Weldin to restart the tennis team. I played my junior and senior year. Mr. Tim Gorman coached the first year, then took on the golf coach job. Mr. Bob Funk coached the second year. We won zero tennis events with the other schools. But it was still a good experience and I recall a couple of the other school players that I liked: Roger Allen of Woodruff High School, later on the Peoria Park Board, Dick Rist, of Richwoods High School, Greg Fulford, Richwoods, Bo Bacheldor, also Richwoods.
In my senior year at Manual, I was a basketball team manager - got to carry towels and do scoring and shot charts on the bench with the team. Mr Wilkinson was the coach - later became Woodruff High School Principal.
Except for buying a tennis racket, paying YMCA membership dues, an allowance that got me bus fare to the Y, my parents saw very little of that activity. I was on my own.
Later sports activities including snow skiing (started in Berchesgarden Germany), water skiing, and racket ball with a Caterpillar group that played at what eventually became a Cat facility. Later, I began bowling with a Cat group and also a wheelchair group.
I have resumed playing table tennis, canoing, motorcycle and bicycle riding (very little).
Square dancing, a recreation that takes a bit of coordination and athletic perception, became a very big activity for me in 1985. It connected me with a very wide cross section of people, from America and abroad, in Peoria, Chillicothe, Kewanee, Macomb, Taylorville, Saint Louis, Sheboygan, Wisc. Los Angeles --that was great for gaining appreciation of others sharing a heartfelt recreation.
All of this has been a series of experiences that produced no gold metals or a trophy case of shiny metal and marble. Just sweat, running after balls that had to be picked up and memories of people and places that I've experienced.
The experiences of those 50 years (I'm now 63) have been filled memories of people, places, and stories that would take a book to fill. The health I've enjoyed, the social and cultural contacts have been the benefit and blessing of my sports and recreation participation. This has given me a treasure in memories. -30-
Ed Dentino worked at Caterpillar, Inc., for 37 years as an engineering technician before he retired in 2000. He's a US Air Force veteran, and now pursues various interests from photography to motorcycles.
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