There's a ballgame that everyone wants to win

I am a huge sports fan.

 

But today, in this column, I'm about to tell all my fellow sports fans to go to hell.

 

Literally, you are going to hell.

 

This is what I mean.

 

Sports fans carry that name because they are fanatic when it comes to their favorite teams.

 

We attach real significance to events that in fact have no value whatsoever.

 

Let's look at the scene early Sunday morning at the municipal lot adjacent to Browns Stadium.

 

Tailgaters who've made their plans weeks in advance, grilling the most delectable cuisine.

 

Beverages, mostly the beer variety, are carefully chilled so guests can have their fill of their favorite Pilsner.

 

As the morning progresses, so does the  inebriation, and by gametime the grill chef is usually three sheets to the wind. He staggers into the stadium, enduring the second half of the ballgame in a state of stupor.

 

He staggers home and falls asleep on  the couch. His children contemplate this disgusting routine capped off by a fit of vomit followed by more sleep and ultimately a hangover the next morning.

 

This exercise in futility makes me wonder about how we invest the  precious little time God has given us.

 

I love the Browns and I love the Indians, but  why am I willing to let hundreds of hours of my life slip away watching exploits of overpaid juiced-up crybabies who don't give a rat's patooti about what happens to me or my family.

 

Lots of guys and gals can't quite make their way to church during the weekend because of the elevated importance  assigned to  tailgating  and the football game.

 

If church is not  your gig, maybe you could volunteer.

 

There are plenty of  nursing homes where your smiling face and caring disposition could make the difference in the life of a senior citizen otherwise imprisoned in a nursing home where family members are too busy to visit this geriatric warehouse.

 

Meals on Wheels could use some help on Sunday mornings as well. There are shut-ins who wouldn't mind it if you sacrificed your Budweiser induced coma in favor of your effort to alleviate a little loneliness.

 

You see what I'm driving at.

 

It's a great time of the year as the baseball season culminates in the final drive to the playoffs and pigskin exploits capture our imagination at the high school, college, and professional levels.

 

But the fact is that none of that has any real value in the eternal scheme of the universe.

 

St. Peter's clipboard has a checkoff list which is devoid of points assigned for leisure time watching and drinking, watching and drinking, watching and drinking.

 

Look, enjoy it because it's fun,

 

But keep it in the background of your life so that you can really spend your time doing something important for somebody else or for God.

 

When you die, you will come across a really important scoreboard.

Your own personal scoreboard.

 

That's the game you really want to win.

 

Peace.