The Games of Life

Unlike the board game, real life isn’t linear – it’s winding, messy, and brighter than you’d expect

When my brother John and I were home from college during holiday breaks, we often found ourselves around the dining room table after meals with our parents, locked in heated Scrabble battles. The games were highly competitive – my father didn’t like losing and frequently invented entire dictionaries on the spot, dropping words that made us laugh, like:

Zorflin Noun. A fleeting idea that feels brilliant in the moment but dissolves before you can write it down.

It was always safer to swallow these word inventions than to risk sacrificing a turn on the altar of Scrabble by looking up his mumbo jumbo. The winner not only earned bragging rights but also possession of the coveted homemade felt banner that read “I’m the Greatest” until the next contest.

As a child, I was fascinated by games. There were the simple ones you could play with a crayon, like Tic Tac Toe or Hangman; card games like Go Fish and Uno; dice and dominos; and beginner board games like Candyland. As I got older, the games we played took on more adult themes – Monopoly, Clue, Masterpiece, Stratego, Risk, and of course, Life. Wealth accumulation, enemy conquest, and murder-solving became our crown-claiming criteria.

Games weren’t just an indoor pursuit. Many summer days began with a pouty “I’m bored” directed at whichever parent was within earshot. The usual response was to send us outside to fend for ourselves (our father was buried in his doctoral dissertation and could not be disturbed). At the school playground, we played hopscotch, freeze/shadow tag, and battled it out in four square. We also invented our own games, including a reckless version of dodgeball on bikes – one that demanded a steady supply of antibiotic ointment and bandages.

As we entered puberty, playground games gave way to competitive sports. For John and me, it started with fast pitch or pinners against any available wall, pick-up football with the neighborhood gang, or filling in for someone on a 12-inch men’s softball league at Robert Crown Park. When our family moved from our apartment on Greenleaf Street to a small ranch on Brown Avenue, our parents installed a regulation basketball backboard over what was essentially a postage-stamp patio – the unlikely stage for some of the most awkward games of Horse ever played.

In high school, I took up racquetball (mentioned in an earlier post), and even joined the rugby club for a couple of years. But shortly after graduation, the slow shift began from playing games to watching them. At first, it was subtle — Saturday softball games with friends and spouses, followed by nights out. But as kids arrived and got involved in organized sports, life increasingly tilted toward spectating.

When my son Tristan moved into high school, we, like many parents, had to set boundaries around gaming. There were cautionary tales of kids glued to their PCs who ended up missing out on college opportunities because their grades collapsed. Yet online gaming also brought community: it let Tristan connect with friends across the world on Discord, a reminder that games evolve with each generation.

All of this brings me to my point that as our idea of fun changes, it is still vital. I was especially heartened by my brother-in-law and fellow Shark, Neal, who recently appeared on Wheel of Fortune. It takes courage to go on a nationally televised game show. There’s a reason we love games – whether competition or amusement, they keep us sharp, social, and young at heart. From fantasy leagues to crossword puzzles to shuffleboard courts, games make us feel alive.

At the Open with Tristan

Recently, I spent a long weekend with Tristan in New York, checking two firsts off my list: a baseball game at Yankee Stadium and opening day of the U.S. Open. Both experiences reminded me how important it is to step outside of our routines and embrace play.

Does spectating mean you’ve given up? No. Does playing badly mean you shouldn’t play at all? Absolutely not. As we age, reclaiming our childhood playfulness becomes even more essential. It’s no accident that so many of our Greenland Sharks events have included games from our past.

The new winners banner

In fact, this past week I made a new traveling “I’m the Greatest” felt banner for our Sharks four square outings. I hope you’re the one who gets to hang it on your mantle soon.

Just don’t make me look up your trash talk in the dictionary.