Nothing to do, James?

When I was a youngster growing up in Queens, New York, so often did I find it uncomfortable when one of the nuns at St. Catherine of Siena Grammar School found me staring out the window.

Often in mid-morning when I should have been doing my times table, but instead was looking out onto the school yard where other kids were in recess, would kindly Sister Mary Albert, she of the black tunic, wimple and beads, loudly ask, “Nothing to do, James?” to my shame and the accompanying giggles from all the other kids.

It was a life lesson well taught. Later on in life, that maxim pounded into my psyche by the Good Sisters assured that whenever I was on the bench, I always had my helmet on lest I be called into action and then had to search for it. A mortal football sin, the penance for which might be forty laps after the next practice.

In the afternoon, I found it nearly impossible to ignore the sound of the race announcer at nearby Jamaica Race Track, a scant two miles from the school, bellowing “they’re off” to a crowd of twenty-five-thousand improvers of the breed.

Unable to see the race, I could only picture in my mind the horses circling the track, the cheering reaching fever pitch as Sister Mary Albert, her back now to me, diagramming the use of the pluperfect-subjunctive in a declarative sentence, moving her piece of chalk faster and faster, as if in sync with the horses thundering down the stretch, the announcement of the winner in exact cadence with the good Sister’s chalk breaking in half at the finish line. You rocked, Sister Mary Albert.

Now, I constantly forget what day of the week it is, and I sleep much more than I should. The virus has posed that same problem for so many. Thank goodness for the NHL, the NBA and MLB, for finding those beneficent bubbles to re-engage our connections to sports. The games are professionally done and piped in crowd sounds add more excitement.

A shout out to our NHL team here in Tampa. Minus two key players, the Lightning have advanced to the Eastern Conference Final after beating a very good Boston Bruins team.

IBM is working with the US Open to mimic certain sounds recorded perhaps five years ago in similar situations like second set, first serve, ace, and then push a button to bring up the cheer from, for example, the exact situation recorded in a match between Nadal and Federer at that time.

As much as I would like to see college football have a season, it’s hard to imagine it happening with all the Covid cases breaking out as schools are re-opening. I don’t think that bodes well for the sport to continue, at least until the spring. It’s hard to understand, from my age and perspective, why these students are rebelling against the Covid safety rules but this article was enlightening. The far more troublesome result of their action is endangering the health of one another and their multi-generational families should they return home.