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THANKFUL FOR SPORT.

For the love of sport.

This was a scene that Ali and I saw played out every single night all over Bali. Come 5pm scores of people; kids, adults, tourists, locals, people from all nationalities, people who each might believe that different mythical creatures started the universe, people with different genitalia, people who loved people who were the same sex as them, people who loved people of the opposite sex, rich people, poor people, you name it – all came together for one purpose – to see who could kick the ball through the two sticks that were stuck into the sand. Shockingly it all seemed to work without issue. Go figure.

All different human beings from the most radically different backgrounds possible all coming together, united in play, united in sport. Simple.

Election time always makes me depressed – either Louis Capps or Abel Maldonado is lying – most likely both of them. Either way they haven’t been very nice to each other on TV and this is right about the time that I’m getting geared up for the holidays and it’s bumming me out. I wouldn’t want either of them on my team and I think they could both learn a lot from a group of eight-year-old Balinese kids.

Make the teams even so that the game is fun, pass to your teammates a lot, cheer when your team scores, cheer when anyone on any team makes a great play, and when it gets dark, pull the sticks out of the ground, shake hands, and go home friends.

Be thankful for sport. I am.

Today’s Workout:
Clean Shrug
3-3-3-3-3

“Nasty Girls”
3 Rounds For Time:
50 squats
7 muscle ups*
10 Hang Power Cleans (135#95#)

MOD 7 ring dips/7 pullups

By on October 24, 2012   /   Articles   /   4 Comments
4 comments
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Ali Boehm
Ali Boehm

Wonderful post Traver. It is so nice to be reminded about the beauty of Bali, especially while I'm trying to transition out of "honeymoon" and back into "real" life. For anyone who hasn't been there, it is a stunningly beautiful island. What is far more beautiful than the scenery, are the Balinese people. They are exactly like Traver described in his post, but in every aspect of their lives. I consider myself a very thoughtful, generous, caring, and selfless person and even I got spanked with the Buddha stick by a few eight-year-old Balinese kids. Ha! I will forever carry the experience of traveling around Bali in my heart and hope to integrate many of their ways into my daily life. Truth be told, while reading this post, I couldn't help but think to myself "sounds like the comradery at CPC". Thank you CPC'ers! You are all amazing, beautiful people that I am honored to have in my life.

Sarah S.
Sarah S.

You call it sport. I call it gaming. Maybe one is a subset of the other. The best part is that they come in all varieties(those that require physical movement, those that require cunning, those that require both), and you touched on some of the most important elements required to build a game that engages humanity at a near-universal level: make it possible to win, make it social, make it reward positive player-to-player interaction. It's pretty fucking interesting, if you ask me(which you didn't, but whatev), and I spend a lot of time thinking about how to solve problems (large and small) by turning them into games. Sort of like the song, "A Spoonful of Sugar" only with less Julie Andrews and more leveling up. I have too much to say about this so I'll stop now. Thankful, indeed, TB.

Matt
Matt

When I took my 3 sons to Africa several years ago, we brought soccer balls and hand pumps to hopefully donate to various villages. Things lined up perfectly as one of our guides mentioned that he was from a village with the best soccer team in the region. However, they played soccer with balls of dried elephant dung! As we ATV'd into the village, everyone came out of their huts and surrounded us, cheering. My boys were heroes as they pulled the balls out of their backpacks. Immediately a game broke out with the entire village, old, young, and even breast-feeding mothers holding their babies. It was one of our greatest memories...

Rodrigo Luna
Rodrigo Luna

This reminds me of when I was a little kid (not the elections) but playing "futbol" on the streets of Mexico City, instead of sticks we put rocks to make the goals. The Cars and trucks did not like this but it was fun to dodge them crazy drivers while scoring some goals and signaling "suck it" while they pass by. It's true sport brought us crazy kids together and at the end if the day you went home as friends and often secretly telling yourself, " Tomorrow I'm goin to get you sucka!" Funny kind of like everyday CPC. Haha! Thankful for the sport and CPC I am!!