Urban Thought Collective

As I casually strolled across the dingy city playing field on a brisk Sunday afternoon, the winds began to whip through my jacket and the words “watch your step” scrolled across my mind as I carefully navigated through the debris that is a part of many urban ball fields. Broken glass, geese droppings, etc. Wait a minute, is that human feces? I finally made it to the sideline set up my portable sports chair and got ready to watch an M2Sports flag football game between the Giants and the Eagles. The only reason I was at this game was to watch my son Tony aka “Tadow” along with the rest of his Giant teammates “H8me, Sho Nuff, Killa, Toby, Javafi, Jeebies, El Negro, Phil, Cbert and P.T compete.

Before the game started the first thing I noticed was how diverse the teams were. There were men of all racial, social, religious and economic backgrounds playing side by side or as opposition. The formation of the league was the brainchild of Mario Lopez, a Latino brother who had the vision to create a format where men can be men have fun, stay in shape, release the stress of daily living at least once a week and have the freedom to unleash their alter ego’s with names like K-Dogg, Speedy and Mr. Puerto Rico. It was great to see such a diverse collection of men gathered together.

The game finally began and immediately there was a lot of trash talking. This was my first time attending the games, so the language assault I experienced caught me off guard. I was sure someone was going to take the comments out of context and blows would be thrown. This was definitely not a PG-13 event, and don’t get it twisted, just because it’s a flag football league, this sports is not for little boys. Hits on the sideline are legal and people can and do get cracked, much to the delight of the crowd on run backs or blocking at the line. Both teams spent a fair amount of time and energy trading verbal air assaults from ethnic put downs to the questioning of “Manhood” for everyone to hear and laugh at on the sidelines.

The contest was intense and went back and forth. The Giants scored first then the Eagles and this pattern lasted over two hours, until “Tadow” scored the game winning touchdown. What happened at the conclusion of the game is what really impressed me. I just knew that after all the jawing that took place, the end of the game would be the opportunity for someone to overreact to something that was said and blow it out of proportion. I watched the teams walk toward each other at midfield with nervousness. But, the teams simply shook hands, embraced, laughed, shared water and a genuine respect for their brothers. After all, it was just a game, and they left their differences on the football field.

At that very moment I pondered the following: Why can’t these same men who represent something larger than themselves come together for a common cause away from the playing field and take that same passion and energy back to the community to help tear down the walls that separate us and make a difference? What is it that keeps our neighborhoods segregated once they exit the playing surface? After the games are over, the blacks will go their way and hang out with the blacks, the Latino’s will hang with the Latino’s and so on for the white males. It’s been said that sports serves as a microcosm of the larger society in many ways, but it’s ironic that the same people who can spend hours together as teammates or engaged in healthy competition go their separate ways and live in different worlds once the games end.

Imagine how powerful it would be to see these same men standing side by side leading voter registration drives, mentoring programs, policing the block to make the hood safe, visiting classrooms, and juvenile detention centers. They would be excellent role models in demonstrating to our youth that beneath the obvious differences of color and race we can get along. On the playing fields diversity is what helps a team come together. The successful teams adopt the philosophy of inclusion and appreciation of variety and they figure out how to make those differences work together for a common goal: winning. Yet that same approach is rarely seen in other area’s like politics, education and employment to name a few.

Perhaps one day we will find a way to make society a microcosm of sports, rather than the other way around.

Tony Price is a collegiate athletics administrator and head basketball coach with over 20 years experience as an athlete and instructor. His unique perspective on sports and society are also featured on his blog, “The Darker Shade of Sports,” www.darkershadeofsports.com.