March Madness

I’m not much of a sports fan. I’m not anti-sports either. It’s just that I was never any good at sports and it’s hard for me to relate to the action. And because I rarely watch I don’t understand a lot of the nuances. If you ever hear me discussing scores it’s probably in reference to Mozart, Beethoven, or one of those guys. But, for reasons I do not understand, I’ve recently been following the college basketball championships closely.

A commercial for a national sporting goods chain features many reasons why playing sports is good for children. You can probably guess the reasons: team work, goal setting, better grades in school, improved social behavior, etc. These are all good things and I whole-heartedly approve. But the same can usually be said for music education. Additionally, school choir and band programs accept nearly everyone into their ranks. Sports teams need to limit the number of players they can have, but not music groups. The more the merrier.

My number one reason for not playing sports, and it’s not like I didn’t try, was that I am naturally clumsy. You’ve seen those people who are naturally coordinated and seem to play nearly any sport well? Well it’s people like me that balance the cosmic scales. However, when I joined my school choir in the fifth grade I felt like I belonged. I was neither the best or worst, just one of the kids trying my darnedest to keep up. As I looked around I realized this was my team.

We would practice twice a week. We didn’t have a seasonal game schedule and the accompanying win/loss record. We performed one concert near the end of the semester. Instead of points on a scoreboard or conference rankings, we had applause. Boy can you get hooked on applause. At least I did. A lot of actors and dancers that I’ve met have similar stories to tell.

Other artists or art students have different stories to tell. A painter, sculptor, or writer will work in, what seems at time, solitary confinement. When they finally finish their creation they put it on display but still manage to live anonymously even if we know their names. But, like the athletes, they have found the place where they feel like they belong. The place where they have a creative outlet.

So, as we careen through March Madness, I feel exhilarated watching the teams give their best and feeling the excitement of the crowds. Of course, the media hype magnifies this. But I’m also a bit disappointed that we don’t do the same for the arts. And I’m not just talking about performing arts either. While there are outlets and opportunities for them, the media is not very good at letting the world know about them beyond the world of pop culture. That’s a bit like only promoting professional wrestling and leaving the rest to muddle along.

I don’t have a solution. I’ll leave that to people who are smarter than me. But I wish our education system valued the arts as much as they do sports. The irony is that few people remember the winners of the last Olympics but we know the works of DaVinci, Shakespeare, Michelangelo, Mozart, et al. And you rarely hear of an adult who still suffers from an old “drawing” injury.