This past Sunday was the Super Bowl. It’s one of only two to ever go to overtime. A classic. One for the ages.
It wasn’t the most thrilling sporting event of the weekend. Not even close.
The Phoenix Open was just down the street from where I was on Super Bowl Sunday. It was a four-day golf event that ended after Nick Taylor made a putt of more than 20 feet in the second overtime. Taylor was down by three strokes with four holes remaining. He tied the match with birdies on holes 15, 16, and 18. Then he and Charlie Hoffman birdied the first hole in overtime to force a second overtime. Hoffman got a par, and Taylor birdied the hole to win.
Nick Taylor got birdies on five out of six holes to win. It would have been the same if the Chiefs had been trailing by 4 touchdowns, and Patrick Mahomes would have led them on four touchdown drives to win, it would have been the same thing. You are likely saying, so what? Who cares? It’s golf. I agree.
If I hadn’t gone to the first day of the tournament and if it hadn’t been played within 1 mile of where I was staying at the time, I likely wouldn’t have even known or cared about Nick Taylor’s remarkable comeback. (He was the leader after the first round.)
I play a lot of golf but seldom watch it. I don’t play football but watch a lot of it.
Most people watch the Super Bowl* and regardless of the outcome, it is the main story in the news the day after it is played. (Even if somebody running for President says it is OK for the Russians to invade one of our allies.)
It would be impossible for Americans to make a bigger deal out of the Super Bowl.
We all think what is happening in our lives is a big deal. We are the center of our universe.
For all I know, we had a sporting event with an even more dramatic outcome yesterday. I researched and found out it took two overtimes for #12 Norte Dame to beat unranked Florida State in women’s basketball. It could have been even more thrilling than the Super Bowl or Phoenix Open. In a week, I will likely have forgotten the entire contents of this paragraph.
Two weeks ago, I donated a mattress. The guy who picked it up was wearing a tee shirt. It said, “Everybody is dealing with something.” My wife, Sue, and I told each other how true it was.
We all have aches and pains; we know people who are sick and hurting. Sometimes, we fall into the trap of thinking we’ve got it the worst. A few months ago, I remember a friend telling me how bad things were going for someone they knew. I remember thinking it sounded minor compared to so and so.
Life isn’t a contest. We don’t need to decide which event is the most exciting. We must make the most of our situation and understand that everybody is dealing with something.
*Most people watch on TV. Nearly 700,000 attend the Phoenix Open in person, including as many A-list celebrities, and the women’s basketball game had an attendance of 2,643.