Bits of Reality

My boys disappeared into the bowels of the basement before dinner. After a long stretch of unusual stillness, I went down to inspect and find the cause. All three were sitting inches from the TV screen staring in earnest. What could be this mesmerizing? Street Basketball Vol. 2 of course. I discovered they had been playing for hours trying to win the coveted trophy for each stage. What a waste of time I thought. I told them to come upstairs, change out of their swim suits and do something worthwhile until we ate. When Rich got home the boys swarmed him, gushing with details of their game victories. They were so proud.

As I began to cook dinner, Rich's brother Taylor called to set up the date for their NFL Fantasy Draft. Rich gave instructions and ideas about how their league should be set up. He recommended certain point values for yards rushing and Touchdowns made. He explained pluses and minuses of items he had in years past. They set up team names, draft specifics, the amount of teams needed, and the numbers of times each team would play each other. It was a long phone call. As I sat listening to Rich discuss football, the boys once again started talking about how many more wins they needed to get the trophies. It was like around 16. I once again thought how much time would be wasted in the pursuit of a fake award. I wondered why my boys cared.

Then it dawned on me that Rich was essentially doing the same thing. A bunch of grown men were planning on spending hours researching and managing this fake team. And he loved it. He has won his league the past three years. He has trophies on his team site. I had never thought that it was a waste of time. It was Rich's release, something to do on his downtime and something he really enjoys. I think the whole fantasy thing is fun. There are actual men with real paying jobs on ESPN that are Fantasy Football analysts. Can you say crazy? Men get paid good money to talk about a pretend game. ESPN writer Bill Simmons wife aka Sports Gal loves to call Bill's fantasy group The League of Dorks. He loves it, she thinks he and his friends are dorks. I laughed at the title, but is it true?

I can say with authority that the answer is no. These things are not silly. Don't we all have to have something we can escape to, that allows us to forget about the worries and cares of life even for a moment? What would life be without little bits of fun? Who wants to work and never play? Don't we all need something to think about or discuss. Don’t TV shows, movies and books do the same thing? Isn't this why fiction is written, to draw us in?

I have lots of things I retreat to. I have read 5 books in three weeks, I started a blog, I read People.com. Through these outlets, I am allowed to forget about the sink of dishes, the two loads of laundry on my floor and the dinner that is yet to be cooked. We all need little somethings that makes us smile.

So good luck boys in your quest for trophies, all four of you. You deserve to win!
And I will get back to my book!