Sportsgasm

                          (Again, the photo has no real relevance other than it describes the mood)

2:06am. My Apartment in Poughkeepsie.

As you all know, I’m still new to the sports thing, but last week I believe I experienced what can only be described as one thing. A sportsgasm. Now, as much as I would like to be the first person to coin this term, I thought of it, looked it up, and lo and behold it was already on Urban Dictionary – “A period of time when the sheer volume and quality of live sport induces a feeling not dissimilar to an orgasm in you.” It’s may sound crass to some of you out there, but it’s truly the most accurate description of the feeling I had.

My college co-ed Ultimate Frisbee team went 8 and 0 over three days to make it to the Championship Game of the High Tide Tournament in Brunswick, Georgia. The game was as close as a game can get and when the tournament officials told us hard cap was on, we were tied 9-9 (this means next point wins). To top it all off, we were coming out on defense. I imagine this is the type of moment that die-hard sports fans (and players) live for, that moment where everything is on the line and you’re the underdog. Our team pulled the Frisbee to the opposite end of the field (it’s like a kick-off in football…or so I’m told). And then there were five turnovers. That’s right, five. Each time the possession turned I thought, “this is it, this is where it ends.” But then it didn’t… until, on the fifth turnover of the championship point, the disc made it into the hands of my good friend Danny who flung the thing into the end zone where Robbie, one of our senior players, finally caught it. We screamed our heads off, we rushed the end zone, we celebrated like nothing else mattered. It was incredible.

So now you see why I have to use this rather crass term. There was hard defense, delicate offense, endless anticipation, screaming, and pure unprecedented pleasure – a sportsgasm. I have never in my life experienced anything like it before and let me tell you, it was awesome. I’m sure your saying to yourself now, great, good for you but what’s the point.

The point is this: I wanted to tell this wonderful story about this wonderful moment. These moments are often few and far between in life (and if they’re not for you, give me a call, I must know your secret) and so we have to share them. Last week I talked about envy, and the way in which it has the power to consume us if we let it.  This though, this joy, this moment, it had the same power of deep consumption. So just as it is important to recognize your own envy, feel it and address it, it is equally important to relish our joyful moments, feel them fully and be mindful of their power in our lives. There will be time spent on the other side of the spectrum, time spent in loneliness, anger, sadness, envy and what have you. There will be time spent in the middle, time where everything is just ok. The point of this week’s blog is just to be sincerely present and aware in all of our time because we only have so much of it. Whether we are in our deepest woes or high as kites, or somewhere in-between, it’s all okay so long as we don’t let a millisecond of it slip by unexamined or unrecognized.