Medieval History
I have never had the wherewithall or motor skills to follow or participate in team sports and Mac hasn't either (actually, I've never asked him - they never come up). The entire field of medieval studies has always seemed blessedly devoid of team sports intrigue, even with the squirmishes depicted in marginalia between monkey teams and something like duck teams. Consequently, our children's efforts in the world of team sports have been dabbling at best. There was a Saturday morning soccer season, which consisted mostly of (not joking) chasing butterflies off the field and tracking airplanes overhead; basketball was deemed absurdly tense considering the point (of putting a ball in a basket); and we all know how we all feel about kickball. Oliver probably knows more about Quidditch than any other sport (although his current reading of (gulp) The Hunger Games may change all that). So Saturday night's impromptu viewing of the last 5 minutes of the Ohio State-Kansas game was unprecedented for the little guy and he watched riveted as Ohio State (for whom we were cheering because our friends were, and because they have renowned Women's Studies and African-American Studies programs) lost the grip it had had on the entire game in the last 3 minutes, and then went on to lose it all 64-62, when a beautiful strategy fell prey to what must have been the highest pitch of adrenaline ever. It was utterly heartbreaking and we got completely caught up in the action and pathos of it all. We got in the car afterwards, and within the quiet moment after everyone had buckled up and we'd settled in for the ride, Oliver turns to me and says, with a blend of incredulity and exhaustion, "What a revolting turn of events!" This without any benefit of knowing The Life of Riley. This from the kid who brought you hapless cretins. He was just stunned at the, well, revolting turn of events for the team. How could such a thing happen? The unpredictability of it all was unnerving for us both. Some day I'll know where to put this little anecdote in the annales of parenting (should we have done more team sports? are there life lessons he's missed?) - for now, Oliver has given me another phrase to apply all too liberally to my every day life.
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Medieval History
What Happens When Your Kid Grows Up Without Any Team Sports
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- Who Says History Can?t Be Fun?! Medievalists.net Chats With Simon Bradbury About The Medieval Gaming World Of Stronghold Iii
How did you get into video game creation? My first game was a side scrolling arcade game called Elf ? back in 1985 ? in the days when the whole game could be made in 3 months by 2 people ! I have programmed and designed many genres of games but soon settled...
- Let The Games Begin: The Medieval World At Play
The third annual Interdisciplinary Medieval Studies Conference, hosted by the Humanities Research Institute, University of Sheffield, will take place this June and the organizers have put out a call for papers. The theme of this year's conference...
- Hapless Cretins
Oliver's Blemmyae, not a hapless cretinThere is so much to do that I can't stand it anymore, and if I'm to get anything done I have to stop doing things for just 20 minutes. There are some things to savor and to realize: it's my...
- Very Sad
A.-F. Desportes, Dog and Pheasant, 1780sThis painting has always reminded me of Sawyer: change the coat to black and elongate the tail, and there's our hound.Was. I'm so sad to write that we've decided to find another home for Sawyer. ...
- The True Meaning Of Macmas
Today is Macmas! Or, as some call it, Macanalia. It is a day of celebration for a man whose kindness and wit and patience and light makes this planet pretty terrific to dwell in. Brunch for friends in the morning, great big snowstorm in the...