Sports is sometimes the only thing people can talk about sanely

 Not everyone likes sports. But, in this controversial world of pandemic, political unrest, long-standing wars and failing economies, it is at least something that people can talk about without sparking anger. There is something to be said for just making conversation. 

    My parents were both on the older side when they had me. They were Depression Era kids who survived and thrived after World War II. I came along in the mid-1960s and there was a built-in age gap the size of the Grand Canyon between them and I. This was especially true where it involved my Pops and me. 

    Yet, no matter how bad it got between my father and myself, we could always have a game of catch and talk baseball. Pops was a New York Giants fan and, more specifically, a Willie Mays fan. I was a Mets fan but Pops and I would watch the Yankees too (if it was the only thing on). The Giants had long ago left the 'city that never sleeps,' but he would talk about the Giants like he had just come from a game. 

    To be sure, the best talks he and I had, lifetime, invovled baseball. The most positive time we spent together was him taking to my Little League games or in front of the television. He used to get a kick out of how I would shout at the screen sometimes. "You let me know when they can hear you," he'd laugh. 

    Sometimes, men can be especially closed off where communication is involved. Sports is a way to get some people talking, opening the way for more meaningful discussion. When some segments of the population politicized 'sports,' they cut off a major avenue that some people have to communicate with others. 

    So...how about them Mets?