Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. That couldn’t be more true than in the (apparent) demise of the Big 12 conference.
In the last few days, we’ve watched the University of Colorado walk out the door, followed shortly thereafter by the University of Nebraska. Ponder that for a moment. Perhaps even sigh a little with the thought.
Now, a reality check: let’s not forget – it’s Colorado and Nebraska, folks! The bottom line is that we’re talking about two football programs that have seen their best days in the rear view mirror. Winning the Big 12 North is not exactly epic these days. Consider that we’re talking about 2 television markets that really aren’t all that big a deal. We’re talking about two men’s (and women’s) basketball programs that are, well, worse than their football programs. And academically? I am not convinced that the academic brain trust of the Big 12 conference resided in Boulder or Lincoln. But I may be wrong.
Does anyone really care that Colorado and Nebraska have bid the Big 12 an acrimonious farewell? The real question is this: has chaos really discovered the Big 12, or do bigger and better things await the conference?
The Rolling Stones once said that time is on my side. And the Grateful Dead made note, many years ago, of “what a long strange trip it’s been”. And somewhere in between the two reside my thoughts of the past few days.
It’s been a recurrent theme recently, that thing called “the passage of time”. Two distinct conversations this week brought this back to me in full, living color. And some very fond memories along with them.
In the first, I had made a comment about how quickly the year 2010 was passing. Suddenly, I was thinking back to my younger days, telling my mother that it seemed like everything went by so slowly, that it was such a long time between birthdays. She told me that as I got older, time would go by faster and faster every day. I remember thinking that hey, she’s just an adult, what does she know? Of course, that’s the mindset when you’re younger. And now, I realize how prophetic her statement was. Suddenly, you turn around and another year is gone. Then five more. Then another decade.
In the second, as I was teaching a class on clinical reasoning this week, I made the remark that it’s been 22 years since I graduated from Queen’s University. It seems like it was yesterday – though the calendar would remind me that it’s been 22 years ago last month.
The still photo snapshot in my mind that is graduation suddenly fast forwards to a couple of years ago when I found myself celebrating my 20 year university reunion. Ah that wonderful time machine that lives inside our minds …
Tuesday May 25th was a crazy day. I was going through my normal morning routine, stepped outside to pick up the newspaper, opened it up, and there was the news. The headline on the front page said it all.
I can’t remember a time when I’ve ever seen a Ferrari Formula One car on the front page of the Austin American-Statesman. Ever.
I think my jaw hit the floor before reality settled in.
On Tuesday, it was officially announced that Austin is the new home of the US Grand Prix. Formula One is coming in 2012. There is a 10 year contract. And consider me excited beyond all belief.
I may currently be in the minority. Though it has made the news, including front page headlines, my sense is that it’s really a non-entity thus far amongst most people. I haven’t heard much talk of it. Apparently I am the only kid running around in this candy store, or one of but a few.
For those who have yet to make sense of this, allow me to explain. In simple terms, this is a big deal for Austin, for the US, and for the global sports community. And here’s why.
We are in a constant quest for power and for solutions to our problems. And far too often, we are caught looking outside of ourselves for the answers to those problems.
It happens in so many different facets of our lives. Take, for example, the war in Iraq. We now know that the issue of weapons of mass destruction was, well, a non-issue. I think it’s safe to say that it was an issue of oil. So we start looking beyond our borders, to the Middle East, to find a solution. We then feel the need to have a presence there in order to have greater access to oil. Sadly, the problem is one within our own borders, and within ourselves. How? We have a problem of energy consumption. Use less oil, need less oil from elsewhere. Pretty simple.
But of course, that would require that we seek the answer that lies within.
It expands to many other areas of our world. It could be a teacher, a parent, or a medical professional. Instead of stating “I gave you some homework to do, so why didn’t you do it?”, would we be better off asking ourselves “what did I not do to get you to comprehend the importance and value-added benefit of that homework?”.
We even go so far as to seek answers outside of our realm. We look for spiritual guidance from beyond. We look to gurus (and the Cult Of Personality) who compel us to believe that they in fact have all the answers. We look to mystics who tell us that if we can only attain their level of spirituality or understanding, we might just be able to attain the level of knowing that they have and that we so deeply desire.
But could the power lie within each and every one of us, right at this very moment?
Who needs fiction? Need a plot line for a movie? Book? Just check out the reality of our world. More often than not, truth is far stranger than fiction.
You could check out some reality TV or, better yet, just turn on the news. It doesn’t get any stranger than that.
So as we go into episode 2 of Rhubarb Ruminations, let’s keep that “truth is stranger than fiction” mantra alive and well. Here are three more news items that just make you say “hmmmm”.
Let’s start with Item number one, which definitely needs to go in the category of “best moment of dramatic irony” in recent news memory. The confessed assassin of Malcolm X Thomas Hagen was released from jail a few weeks ago. I guess with our legal system as it is, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Go to jail for murder, get out 44 years later on parole or good behavior – or something along those lines. Hold on a second – get out for good behavior? You killed someone! But I digress.
So how does this little snippet of rhubarb become more intriguing?
Being “in the moment” is the essence of being present in your world. Or so the Zen masters might tell us. For many, this is an outrageously difficult task. It is elegant in it’s simplicity, yet challenging in it’s deeper meaning.
We’re caught up in the passage of time. Life. Experience. Spirituality. A series of moments, all demanding a description, an expression of the experience. And for many, the more pearls on that necklace, the better.
What amazes me is how we can struggle to simply be in the moment, but we’re bound and determined in the meantime to capture the moment and document it in any way possible. It doesn’t matter if you are an artist, or a scientist. It’s not a left brain or right brain task.
Is it possible to focus so hard on capturing the moment that it becomes impossible to simply experience it? And once you’ve captured that moment, what do you do with it?
Social media is rapidly becoming a part of our daily reality. We now have many ways to share our world online – our photos, our current thoughts and activities, and even our current geographical location. All in real-time.
We have access to data like never before. We also have the ability to share that data – like never before. Lo and behold, we now have the “status update”.
But this data can also come at you like a fire hose stream of water. It can feel like you’re swimming upstream, against the current, in a fast-flowing river. It never stops. It flows past you while you stand there, up to your knees in it.
Sometimes you can dip your toes in it, then pull away from it. Other times, you’re sucked into the oppressive flow of random thoughts, irreverent at times, irrelevant at times, utterly stupendous at others.
We now update our status – regularly. But we’re faced with the challenge of separating the signal from the noise. And there are definitely times when the noise rules the roost. Much like a bear, you bury your head in the stream, then grab a fish and pull it out. There. Got it. Now on to the next fish. In the meantime, the stream flows around you.
At times, you have to wonder - what value does this add to our existence?
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.