Sports Progress

 

Jim is a sports guy. He’s always been athletic and has played any sport available to him. In elementary school he played softball, in high school it was basketball and as an adult he played rec league basketball and pick up games of flag football. When his kids we young, he made sure they were involved in sports so they can learn teamwork and life skills in addition to the athletic feats on the field. He coached and managed most of the teams his kids played in.

So sports are deeply intrenched in his brain. They are a combination of short term (watching on TV), medium term (coaching, managing), long term and muscle memory (playing).

It breaks my heart to see his lose his ability to enjoy them.

First it was hockey. He stopped watching it because he became frustrated at the sloppy playing. Hockey was associated with some personal disappointments. So to me it wasn’t a surprise to see it be the first to go.

Football and basketball are the sports he’s been the most passionate about. This past winter he started losing track of football games. But that was more about losing track of the channels and trying to change channels to escape commercials.

Yesterday, he was losing track of basketball – in the middle of the play on the floor.

In my head I know it’s no different than him getting confused by the commercials, It just seems worse because now the game itself, one he’s played thousands of times, can’t hold his focus or awareness.

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