Thoughts on God, men and the Yankees

In 1979, Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize. The next year, she didn't. Nevertheless, no one thought her life was a failure in 1980 -- or in any subsequent year.

Fans of the New York Yankees might want to remember that. Some grumps among them mutter that the 1997 season was a failure because the Bronx Bombers didn't win another World Series, as they had a year ago. "Anything less than another crown," those dissatisfied rooters moan, "was not a success." But success comes in many forms, including a season of 96 wins, which only two other major league teams could top.

As the Yankees went through their play-off games last weekend, hundreds of thousands of men were gathering in Washington, D.C., for the Promise Keepers rally. There, they vowed to admit their faults, change their ways, love their wives and children, and become more spiritual. As admirable as those numbers are, they don't come anywhere near the tens of millions of men who were watching sports on Monday night as two undefeated football teams clashed and as the Yankees battled the Indians in a winner-take-all contest.

The juxtaposition of those events leads to some questions men might want to contemplate:

* Men, who are stereotyped as naturally unemotional, become very emotional about sports. Have you ever asked yourself why?

* Watching the playoffs from a distance of hundreds of miles, men in the Albany Diocese went through several stages of feelings -- elation in the first game, tension during the middle ones, disappointment after the last. What stages of emotion have you allowed yourself to feel while you are in the midst of prayer or during Mass?

* After the final out, the players on the Yankees got a four-month vacation in which to enjoy their seven-figure incomes. When was the last time you had either? In light of your answer, how proportional is your undying devotion to sports?

* When Bernie Williams of the Yankees flied out Monday night to end their hopes of going on in the post-season, many men grew teary-eyed. As Joe Torre, the manager, spoke about his players at a press conference, his eyes welled up. Have you ever cried in public? Have you wept at your child's first step or your wife's constant devotion or your parents' years of sacrifices for you?

* Some fans are angry at the Yankees. They rage at Tino Martinez's failure to carry his great season into the play-offs; they are mad at Andy Pettitte's inability to keep the Tribe from scoring; they fume over the lack of clutch hitting. Do you feel equivalently angry about poverty, abortion, capital punishment and other social injustices? If not, what does that say about you?

We offer these questions for men to contemplate, especially Yankee fans, who now have extra time on their hands before spring training.

(10-09-97) [[In-content Ad]]