Daily Dose of Sultnpapper 07/10/18> Who’s keeping score?... life’s scorecard.
Who is keeping score..
With all the excitement going on around the world right now with the World Cup Soccer tournament being held in Russia I thought this would be a good time to discuss “score cards.” I tried to think of a sport that doesn’t utilize a score keeping system and I just can’t think of one right off the top off my head.
Being an official scorekeeper for a sporting event is an important part of the game. Depending on what sport it is the pace of action can keep a scorekeeper pretty darn busy trying to fill in the official score card. If I were to venture a guess on what sport would be the most difficult to be a scorekeeper I would guess that basketball would be the hardest one to keep score for.
The action is very fast paced and in a lot of cases and not only does the scorekeeper has to keep track of the baskets made but they also have to keep track of personal fouls, team fouls, and the possession arrow. The possession arrow is used in some levels of basketball to determine which team gets the ball if there is dual possession of the ball by both teams; years ago it was referred to as a “jump ball” situation.
Hold your horses...
Having already said that basketball would be the most difficult I am going to change that; professional golf without question has to be hardest to be a scorekeeper for. So I stand corrected even before any of you had the chance to point out the error in my assessment of the difficulties.
Golf is probably one of the slowest competitive games a person could think of next to chess, so the pace of the game isn’t what makes being a scorekeeper for professional golf difficult. The thing about being a professional golf scorekeeper is that you have got to be pretty damn good at the game of golf, and know all the rules of golf, because they just don’t let anyone keep scores for these events; there is a lot of money at stake with these professional golf tournaments.
The scorekeepers in professional golf don’t get paid a dime for keeping the official score for the golfer they are responsible for keeping score for; yet they can cost that golfer a bunch of money in fines or penalties if they make an error in the scoring. I think they could also cause the golfer to lose their “players card” if the error is so egregious.
If only I could...
Despite the lack of being paying paid for keeping score for professional golf I would love to be a scorekeeper for a professional golf tournament. That would mean that I was good enough to be playing golf for money since the golfers are responsible for keeping their own scores. Not many, if any other, professional sports have the player keeping the official score but golf does. Not only do they keep their own scores but they have to also call penalties on themselves if they do something that is against the rules of golf.
Life's scorecard...
Life has a scorecard as well in my way of thinking.
Birthday Parties
When we are young birthday parties are the item that is tracked, it seems that from birth to about the age of sixteen birthday parties are a regular occurrence if you have friends.
Weddings
As we move farther along in life weddings become the next item on life’s scorecard. People you grew up with are getting married and settling down and that is worth noting on the card of life. Attending weddings and the receptions that normally follow are generally a festive event.
Funerals
Later in life the scorecard starts getting filled in with funerals. The older you get the more you see of funerals than you do of birthday parties and weddings. It isn’t written down anywhere that this is how it is suppose to be, but it is just the same. I guess it is another unwritten law of nature.
The hits, runs, and errors
So if you were to compare life to the game of baseball’s terminology you could say those three are, in the order listed, the hits, runs and errors that get marked in the official score book of life. The last couple of days I had the opportunity to place a couple runs in the book and today I have to record an error, an old friend passed away over the weekend and will be buried today. You could say that the score book on his life has been officially closed.
Rest in peace Jake.
Until next time,
@sultnpapper
Congratulations! This post has been chosen as one of the daily Whistle Stops for The STEEM Engine!
You can see your post's place along the track here: The Daily Whistle Stops, Issue 192 (7/11/18)
The STEEM Engine is an initiative dedicated to promoting meaningful engagement across Steemit. Find out more about us and join us today.
Thank you so much, always a pleasure to find this comment below on of my daily dose columns.
I've never really thought of life like that. Keeping score..... I don't much care for the funerals though. You're right...as we get older there do seem to be far more of these than we would like. I'm so sorry to hear about your friend.
Thank you. I don't do well with death, never seem to have been able too. The church service I can take, the burial service is the part that gets me.
It's sad for me to say that I have had more funerals in my life than marriages.
All the more happy I am for being able to be present at my cousins wedding at the end of next months. If there really is a scorecard of life.....
Score.
About three weeks before that, I will also be at a birthday party, so apparently, I am really getting back into the game.
You are a young man, not all the hits and runs are made in the early innings of the game., and sometimes the errors can stack up in hurry. Over the course of time you'll see that it will level out and play out for most folks like I have said it here, not all, but most.
I think so too.
A very good analogy mr Papper, life is like a scorecard! I often think of how my interest in the personal anmouncements in the newspapers have changed over the years - used to be wedding & engagement announcements...although these are becoming dated so we see less of those, then it was the birth columns and lately I mostly look at the deaths and funeral announcements!
So sorry about the loss of your friend.
Thank you Lizelle , he was a good man and good friend, he will be missed.
As far as the score card , that is the way I see it. My father in law is 87, he is fast running out of his old running buddies. His score card is racking up errors at an alarming rate.
Sorry for the loss of your friend. I never thought of life on a scorecard. I know people keep scare as to whether or not they are invited to certain events by friends and relatives. I personally have never kept score. Somehow to me, it seemed to devalue the events and the folks that were keeping score. As I get older, I am losing friends through death. It is not pleasant but it is a part of the life cycle. I can't stop it so I learn to deal with it because someday it will be my turn...
It is just kind of gauge I guess, I'm not scoring every event to compare with friends that is for sure, if I did I might be the next error.