Faith In The Game
STORIES BY ATHLETES OF FAITH
Faith in the Game is a blog containing submissions by athletes of faith. Each of them was asked one question: Tell us a story about a time when your faith was most present in your life. Rather than tell us about their faith, we asked them to show us.
These stories are oftentimes uplifting, and at all times profound, raw, honest, introspective and heartfelt. These are not the sort of stories you hear in a press conference. Some of them take place on the field; others, off it. They are presented without agenda or judgment. On many levels, we think you'll find them fascinating, as they pull up the veil on a side of sports that is rarely revealed but very often present.
This blog is moderated by author and father Ben Petrick, a former Colorado Rockies catcher thought to be the only professional athlete to have his career shortened by Parkinson's Disease, along with writer and father Scott Brown. In addition to their professional and family lives, both men are also coaches of youth sports. A selection of the stories they've collected will soon appear in a book, and together they're also working on Ben's autobiography.
If you'd like us to email you when new stories appear on the blog, please send us a note at info@imagine-books.net.
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Going It Alone
From the New York Times, on American distance runner Ryan Hall, who decided to go without a coach and put his training in the hands of a higher power:
Hall, who will turn 29 next week, said he came to his decision a year ago when he was the great hope for an American winner in Chicago, as he is this year. He had come in fourth in Boston, with a time of 2:08:41. But on Sept. 29, 2010, less than two weeks before the race on Oct. 10, he announced that he was overtrained, too tired to race, and withdrew.
“I was just way overfried and overcooked,” he said in a telephone interview.
He began to consider whether he really wanted to be coached and run with a group — he had been running with the Mammoth Track Club, where he was coached by Terrence Mahon.
“The thing that was disappointing, even though I was training really hard, I wasn’t seeing any improvement,” Hall said.
And he felt he was not close enough to God, he said. As a Christian, he decided he would, in effect, let God be his coach.
“I really wanted that,” Hall said. “To wake up every morning, to get down on my knees and say: ‘God, I need your help. I don’t know what to do.’ ” He reasoned that even if his running got worse, he would gain something because he would be closer to God.
What do you think of Hall’s decision?
To participate in the discussion, please head over to our Facebook page.
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The Lost Art of Listening, by Ben Petrick
Ben Petrick is co-editor of Faith In The Game. A former Major Leaguer with the Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers, Ben has Parkinson’s disease and recently underwent an aggressive surgery called Deep Brain Stimulation to alleviate his symptoms. A television news story on Ben’s amazing recovery can be found here. Ben chronicles his progress, along with stories of faith, family and baseball, in this blog.
This entry was inspired by a couple of things. One was the talk that I had with a couple of young baseball players to whom I was giving hitting lessons a couple of days ago. The other was a swimming lesson my daughter had last week.
My daughter just turned 4 years old and has had swimming lessons in the past, but this time it feels a little different. She is getting to that age where she is really starting to grasp instructions and as long as she is giving her undivided attention. At this particular swimming lesson there was another little kid that was bobbing his head underwater throughout the lesson, even while the teacher was talking. The teacher asked repeatedly for him to stop and listen, but the kid was just playing and having fun. But when his play led my daughter to stop paying attention, I had flashbacks of my dad saying that when an adult is talking, look them straight in the eye so they know you are listening.
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The Astronaut — by Ben Petrick
Ben Petrick is co-editor of Faith In The Game. A former Major Leaguer with the Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers, Ben has Parkinson’s disease and recently underwent an aggressive surgery called Deep Brain Stimulation to alleviate his symptoms. A television news story on Ben’s amazing recovery can be found here. Ben chronicles his progress, along with stories of faith, family and baseball, in this blog.
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I’ve found myself at an interesting crossroads lately. Is it possible to feel guilty for experiencing improved health? I spent so much time praying for a something to alleviate my Parkinson’s symptoms. Now that that’s happened, I’m overwhelmingly grateful, but also conflicted because I’m leaving someone behind.
I’ve always had a partner on this walk: my father.
I recently returned from a two-week vacation, which left me with two main thoughts: First, I am so thankful for the Deep Brain Stimulation surgery I had last winter that has improved my symptoms greatly. Second, I want so desperately for DBS to be an option for my dad, who also has the disease. Because of his being older and having other health complications, DBS might not be viable for him.
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“Life is defined by how you spend it, not where you live it.”
Did you happen to catch Dewey Bozella’s story on the ESPYs this week? If not, and you’re in the mood to bear witness to some serious resolve, please check this out.
(And pay particular attention to the part where he meets his brother’s murderer in the prison chapel.)
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“The hero and the coward both feel the same thing.” — Cus D’Amato
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” — Psalm 23:4
