The three trips that CoolDaughter #1 and I took up to Rutgers this weekend (CoolMom joined us for two) resulted in one best time for her, one not-so-best time for her, and two relays. In the medley relay on Sunday, her team had a great shot for a top-8 finish.
They were in the first of three heats, and they took it going away. That time was also good enough to top every time in the second heat. By the end of the third heat, they were in fifth place. Mission accomplished.
Not so fast. They'd been disqualified for a false start.
Tears on the pool deck. Tears in the car. Tears at Smash Burger. More tears in the car.
This is where I gave CD #1 my Temple Run 2 analogy. We've, all of us, been playing a lot of Temple Run 2 at home. I said, "What happens in every single game of Temple Run 2? Whether you get 1,000 points or 2 million points, what happens?"
"You die," she said.
"That's right," I said. "You die. You lose. When that happens, you can either quit playing or use all the gold coins you picked up on that last run to level up and go again. That's like sports. In sports, sometime, no matter what, you're going to lose. The trick is to take that experience, bank it, and use it to keep getting better."
Cliché, I know; but, really, the only thing that sports are better at than getting you fit are producing fodder for clichés.
I played sports as a kid. Baseball and football through high school. But I was never a "jock," and I never competed at the level, especially at 10 years old, that the kids on these swim teams are competing at right now. I'm actually amazed by not only my own daughter, but also by the rest of the kids on her team. They bond and laugh while waiting for their races. They run to the deck to cheer on their teammates. They give each other a hug and a smile after a DQ.
Here's another sports cliché: they're learning a lot about life through swimming. They're learning, on their own, things as simple as you can't win 'em all along with more subtle things like the value of hard work and how to be there for your friends. I don't know if I got all of that when I was 10 years old.
JO's represent the last meet for a couple of months, but they'll all be back at practice today getting ready for the next one. There will be plenty of smiles and laughs mixed in with all the huffing and puffing. JO's, after all, are yesterday's news.
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