It is the time of year when many of us focus on balls. For some, it is football; currently, with the World Series, it is baseball. Some obsessions are seasonal, depending on our sport of choice. Some are constant -- golf balls, tennis balls, basketballs, and the latest rage pickleball. Guess I need to mention soccer balls, as the sport is slowly catching on in the United States.
Should alien scouts be sent to our island to observe our recreational pursuits, they would see that we are obsessed with games involving balls. Our visitors would find some of us chasing small white dimpled balls around a beautifully landscaped golf course, while others might be swinging wildly at yellow fuzzy balls, desperately trying to get them to the other side of the net.
If not actively pursuing balls, we watch other people swing bats at white balls with red stitching or bouncing a large orange bumpy ball and trying to shoot it into one of two small round hoops. And then the strangest ball of all – the oval-shaped, neatly stitched football -- is kicked, thrown, and piled on by young men dressed for war.
The small white-dimpled and larger fuzzy yellow are the balls of choice at our house. Big Guy used to be gone for hours chasing golf balls around the grown-up island playgrounds, also known as golf courses. He left early in the morning with his heavy bag of clubs and an ample supply of new, shiny white golf balls. He rarely returned with the same number of balls he started with. Instead, he leaves some hidden for other golfers to find, like cleverly hidden monochromatic Easter eggs.
My tennis, on the other hand, takes much less time. Tennis is excellent therapy and exercise. Hitting the balls as hard and accurately as I can feels really good. The goal in my game is to keep the yellow fuzzy balls within the carefully drawn lines and, preferably, on the other side of the net that divides the court in half.
Yes, there are similarities in our pursuits. They both require specialized equipment and appropriate apparel. My tennis requires less time, is better exercise, and requires more skill. Big Guy retorts that golf is a game of precision and patience and takes the talent of a trained surgeon.
Not including balls, I only need one piece of equipment to compete, while he needs an entire bag of various clubs and endless gear. We both have dabbled in the other's sport of choice but quickly found we'd best stick to our games. Our mixed marriage works.
Both games -- golf, and tennis -- have fascinating historical origins. Tennis can be traced back to France, where royalty played it as early as the 12th century. Castles would have courts, as would many of the monasteries throughout the country. The game was originally played with the hands and has evolved to incorporate the use of a racquet, which is much more hand-friendly.
Golf can be traced to the Roman emperors who favored a game called paganica, which utilized a bent stick and a soft feather-filled ball. Later, the Scots, who claim the game as their own, began to hit small pebbles with sticks around a prescribed course.
As we age, we spend less time pursuing our preferred sports. We do enjoy watching football, golf, tennis and other “ball” sports on television.
Maybe, later, we can share the shuffleboard court.