Hoop Dreams

Congratulations to the Boston Celtics - NBA Champions!

Having said that, I have a confession to make: I ain't a big basketball fan and probably watched less than 30 minutes of playing time all season (OK, let's be honest - in the last 5 years!) If it weren't for my brother - who is forever calling me and asking me to TiVo a game for him - it'd probably be less than that. BUT the hype behind the Celtics for the last few months - and especially since the matchup for the finals was ... final - man, you could not help but get involved, pick a side, know what was going on.

"A classic rivalry revisited" "Who is king of the court: Kobe or Kevin?" I mean, the hype was everywhere and it went on and on and on. I played into the hype during my recent visit to my father's house in Houston. He is a DIE HARD Lakers fan, so of course, I had to play the role of the Celtics fan (which wasn't that hard since that was my paternal grandfather's team). When my father and I went out to Father's Day brunch on Sunday, as we drove away from the restaurant, he yelled "Go Lakers!" and I countered (just as loudly) "Go Celtics!" to the amusement of the other patrons waiting for their cars to be returned by the valet.

But here's my question: after all the hype...now what? No matter who you rooted for as a fan, Kobe ain't coming to your house to apologize for the Lakers not pulling it out in the final seconds of game 6; Kevin Garnett is not going to let you wear the championship ring because you yelled and screamed his name until you were hoarse...and years from now, some little kid will be watching a retrospect on basketball and wonder, "only 40 points a game and they thought THAT was something? Ha!"

Here's my point: we sometimes get caught up in things that really aren't that important in the scheme of things. The playoffs and finals were interesting - made for great watercooler conversations - kept me entertained to see my friends updating their Facebook status with current stats and shout outs to the players; but five years from now [unless you are one of those people who really does remember every stat for every player in every game...], will this really even matter? Will you remember how many points Kobe scored or how many assists Kevin made or anything else specific about each game? Probably not.

There's a saying, "Only what you do for Christ will last." Now, I know that does not mean that we are not to find enjoyment in things - sports serve a purpose: good exercise, team building skills, comraderie, etc. And there are other hobbies that people embrace that are also time consuming. [Have you ever spent weeks trying to organize 30GB of digital photos? ARGH!] But, in the scheme of things, what will be remembered is not how you played the game, but how you lived your life: were you kind to people? did you nourish and nurture the dreams of a young person? did you put yourself out for someone who never returned the favor? did you show Christ to someone who was lost? Those are the things that will matter - today and always.

Be blessed.