Sports

I can’t begin to imagine my life without sports. As far back as I can remember, I’ve been playing one sport or another.

I’m sure I inherited some good genes from Dad who played tennis at both San Bernardino Valley JC and at UC Berkeley. I don’t recall Mom being much of an athlete, but she was always our number one fan, attending nearly every game me and my brothers played.

I was a big (dare I say chubby) boy and had a bit of a size advantage playing little league baseball. It was not at all hard for me to hit the ball out of the park. I still have the baseball my mom insisted on retrieving after I hit two homeruns in a single game.

I was a fast swimmer and spent my summers swimming for the Dos Palos swim team. I set a few age-group records for the 50-yard freestyle.

While I enjoyed swimming and playing baseball, my first real love was playing basketball. I’ve always had good hand-eye coordination, and I taught myself how to be a good outside shooter. I would spend hours practicing in my backyard, often times well past bedtime. I led my high school teams in scoring my sophomore and senior years.

My year in Belgium was the highlight of my basketball career. I played for a local men’s team, and we travelled all over the country. I was by far the youngest player on the team. I think I averaged over twenty points a game that season. After each game, we would go to the local pub and drink Stella beer which is still today my beer of choice. My Belgian teammates were proud of their young American star and were more than happy to teach me how to drink beer.

While I played high school golf, I put the clubs away for over thirty years, playing an occasional round here and there. But back in 2004 we joined Cherry Valley CC and I returned to the sport I love most. Then in 2013 I started playing tournament golf on the Golf Channel AM Tour that ended in early-2000 with the covid crisis. Suffice to say those seven years of tournament golf were the highlight of my sporting career.

It also helped reunite me with Brother Roger who had retired as the Principal of Chico High School and had turned to golf as an outlet for his competitive nature. We must have played in over a dozen member-guest tournaments together in addition to some fun trips to Myrtle Beach and San Francisco.

After I graduated from UC Berkeley and started working for Haskins & Sells as a CPA, I started putting on some weight. My major client was Kaiser Aluminum whose office building overlooks Merritt Lake in downtown Oakland. I noticed all the people running around the lake during lunch hour, so I bought a pair of running shoes and decided to join them to help take off a few pounds.

Little did I know this would be the start of a new love affair. Once I got in running shape, I couldn’t get enough. One lap turned into two laps, then turned into three. When running around Lake Merritt I often felt as light as a feather and that I could run like the wind. I guess that’s why they call it a runner’s high.

I then started competing in 10K races and half marathons. I even did a full marathon but injured my heel about halfway through and had to limp across the finish line. It took some time for that injury to heal and pretty much marked the end of my road-racing career.

After the injury, and since I was already an accomplished swimmer, I started riding my bicycle to get in shape for a full triathlon. Before leaving for MN, I competed in a couple but decided they were not my cup of tea. Running was easier and more fun. I continued to run until 1990 when a second serious ankle injury sidelined me for good.

Other sports I’ve played include football (high school), soccer (Belgium), mini-golf and table tennis (with the kids), bowling and badminton(growing-up), tennis (with Dad), and volleyball (UC Berkeley).

It’s also fair to call me a sports junkie when it comes to tv watching. Golf, basketball, football, baseball, tennis, hockey – whatever is in season.
I’ve also attended many live professional sporting events. While attending UC Berkeley in the early-70s I was lucky enough to watch the Oakland A’s in their prime and the Golden State Warriors when Rick Barry was at the top of his game. I’ve been to a US Open (Pinehurst 2014), a Super Bowl (49ers 1985), Wimbledon (1971), and a Monday practice round at the Masters.

What can I say? I’m hooked on sports and so are my two sons Kyle and Lance.