The poem, "Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio" by Wright depicts what I see play out each season when I coach my son's teams in baseball and football.
Verse 5:
Dreaming of Heroes.
I see so many fathers living through there kids, pushing them to the point where the kids no longer enjoy playing. They push them to be better and better athletes with the hopes that some day they may become a professional athlete. I shudder when I see this happening because I feel sorry for these kids when a fun activity becomes more like a job, something they must grasp and succeed at or feel the wrath of disappointment and anger from the parent for not doing well. I wish we could take all those parents and make them play the sport against other hardcore parents and have the kids watch them and critique them just as the parents are doing to them. Wow, wouldn't that be an eye opener for these over the top parents!
This was my least favorite of the poems that we read for this week because I really didn't know what was going on. But after reading it a few times and discussing it with others I finally came to the same conclusion you did, the fathers were living through theirs sons. It is unfortunate that parents sometimes push their kids too hard and therefore ruin the fun for the kids. Sports are competitive but they are meant to be fun also.
ReplyDeleteI understood the poem more to be about Wright's generation to be stuck in their current jobs or state of mind(Polacks nursing long beers) and how they are dreaming of better things.
ReplyDeleteThen end to me is how their son's take the football field in the fall and risk their bodies for the love of the game.
The men may have hopes for their children to not end up where they are but I dont see it as being pushy at all