Weekend 3-Way: sports edition

In honor of the games of the 29th Olympiad, please share your personal history of organized sports.

Jacquie:

Mine is a tragic history. I might have fooled you with heroic tales of my running and my prowess at the gym, but the truth is that I have always been pathetically bad at organized sports. There was the swimming, which was fine because it was pretty solitary and there was always a slow lane for me to muddle along in, but there was also the unfortunate season of softball when I tried so desperately to hide in right field and would have been perfectly happy just to daydream and sing to myself out there if that damned stupid ball would have just stayed away! I did gymnastics when I was younger, and I don't think I was necessarily terrible at it, but I was apparently neither talented nor committed enough to compete at any significant level. I was even a cheerleader for a while, and captained the squad in 8th grade! I was inspired and mentored by the pom poms of a certain co-blogger who may or may not remain nameless. Wait, is cheerleading a sport? In High School, I tried track - what the hell was I thinking? Soon I discovered that I was much better suited for Dead shows and general laziness. I could have won a gold medal in avoidance of sports. Now I have settled comfortably into my role of sports spectator, fixing drinks and keeping the salsa bowl filled. I don't even participate in cannonball contests, but I make a mean announcer.

Ellie:

.

I am such the opposite particpate-in-too-many-sports middle child to your youngest child, Jacquie. My geek-to-cool ratio has always been skewed opposite to yours.

Sigh. Some things never change.

I did other stuff like tennis and diving, and, um, you know, other stuff. But for me it was always about the swimming. Year-round, 1 or 2 leagues, from when I was 7 until I graduated high school. My senior year I swam before school (which started at 7:40) so I could get a workout in. Still dark outside, just me and my coach in the pool area. I don't know who was more dedicated, me or him. It worked, though. I kicked some ass at States in 500 free. And that time is still better than the pool record for 500 free at East Lyme High School.

See? Once a geek . . .

Oh? And the cannonball contest? I didn't participate, either. Not after Jacquie's boy said, "Come on, Aunt Ellie! Last time you made a splash as big as a whale!" No, I was the underwater judge. And Mom and Dad didn't even ask for my input. But they did award me a prize:

Beth:

I lean much more toward Jacquie when it comes to organized sports (maybe it's something about being born in the year of the monkey?). I dabbled in them early on, then left the sports-team scene altogether to become a quarters champion in high school (actually I was never terribly good at quarters either, but I always had so much fun while playing).

So although I did not have a childhood bedroom full of trophies and medals (like Ellie probably did), I did take four first-place blue ribbons at the Emily Howland Elementary annual track and field day when I was in 3rd grade (or was it 2nd? or 4th?). I won more first-place ribbons than anyone that year. I'm pretty sure it was because I was about a foot taller than the majority of my classmates, and most of that length was in my gangly legs. This is a big advantage, especially when it comes to the high jump and the standing and running long jump. I crushed these three events. I think the fourth blue ribbon was for a relay event, so it was likely someone else's speed that landed that blue ribbon in my hand.

The only other first-place ribbon (thinking back I actually think it was a trophy!) I remember getting was one I shared with my mom, who actually was an Olympic hopeful for swimming back in the 1950s. It was a mother-daughter backstroke relay at the local neighborhood pool. Our only real competition was little Pammy Proctor and her mom. Pammy was a real brat who knew too well that she was a good swimmer, so it was such sweet success when my mom pulled out the win for us (thanks, mom!).

I'm (sadly?) satisfied with these few ribbons, I've never been especially competitive (except when it came to grades), but I do sometimes covet my oldest daughter's red second-place ribbon for pie eating. Now that's a sport I could do well in.