Jens Deju
Daily Egyptian
Over the past few weeks, I have been in a kind of sports euphoria as all of my favorite teams were undergoing good times.
The Miami Heat just drafted University of Connecticut star Caron Butler, who I had been hoping for since I got to see him play against SIU and Maryland in person during the NCAA Tournament in Syracuse, N.Y.
The Florida Marlins were playing somewhat respectably, and Luis Castillo made history with his 35-game hitting streak.
Things were even starting to look up for the Florida Panthers as they had the top pick in the NHL Draft, which they traded away, but still ended up getting the player most people felt was the best available in Jay Bouwmeester.
Then I received a sobering reminder of just how little sports mean this past weekend when my grandfather passed away on Friday night.
Pop had been sick for a few years with lung cancer but was actually doing pretty well before having a relapse this past month.
Before he passed, one of the things I thought about was why I didn't spend more time with him.
Then it hit me. Sports, which sometimes brought us together, also sometimes drove us apart.
Usually when I'd go to his house in Hialeah, Fla., I'd go straight to the Lay-Z-Boy and turn on a Marlins, Panthers or a Heat game.
I'd say a few words to him, but for the most part I'd just watch the game.
At the time, I figured I had plenty of time to spend with Pop, but the game would be over in a matter of hours.
Now, I can still watch Marlins games, but I can't talk with Pop anymore.
This is the second straight year I've lost an important member of my family as one of my other grandfathers died last fall, a mere week before the start of the semester.
Like with Pop, I'd often spend more time worrying about sports than spending time with Papi Abuelo.
I don't want to make it sound like sports have driven me away from my family.
Pop and I would sometimes watch games together and talk about how so-and-so was overrated and how the coach should have done this instead of that.
My point in writing this is that there are more important things than sports.
While sports are a good thing and can bring strangers together, we can't let them rule our lives and keep us away from the people that matter most: our friends and family.
I'm not saying I'm going to swear off sports because that won't happen.
I just have to learn how to balance my love of sports with the love of my family.
Just like the sports world needed the sudden death of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile to straighten out priorities, I feel Pop's death will do the same for me.
I routinely spend my free time either watching ESPN or on-line reading the various sports websites instead of getting out and taking advantage of life.
Now, I hope this makes me realize that finding out the score of last night's Marlins-Cubs game is not worth missing out on the chance to spend time with my roommates and other friends.
Hopefully, those of you who are still reading this will realize that as well and take advantage of life, because it really is too short to waste on something that really doesn't matter.
Personally, I know I am going to try to spend more time talking with my last living grandfather as well as my dad about more important things than sports.
I don't want to look back in the future and have more could'ves or should'ves.
I just want to have fond memories of the people I love.
Reporter Jens Deju can be reached at jdeju@dailyegyptian.com
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
