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LIMA, Peru - When Venezuela's bishops spoke out against postponing the inauguration of ailing President Hugo Chavez, the president's supporters accused them of meddling in politics, while government opponents praised their comments.

It鱿鱼视频app a never-ending cycle of games

This is not a rant against organized sports. My kids have been involved in sports for many years, mostly because of my husband. Basketball, ringette, hockey, baseball, volleyball 鈥� you name it, they鈥檝e played it. 

We鈥檝e travelled far and often to take our kids to games and tournaments. We鈥檝e met hundreds of players, parents and coaches and shared with them the satisfaction of playing hard and the thrill of victory. There have been many good times.

But it鱿鱼视频app often been a struggle to balance sports and family life. We鈥檝e just barely finished baseball season and now hockey is upon us. Thank goodness my husband and I agree that, as a family, we should never miss our holy obligation of Sunday Mass in the name of a game. Even on tournament weekends, we always find a church and never miss Sunday Mass.

Still, as someone who didn鈥檛 grow up with sports, I have been known to lose my cool when sports trumps family life. I even spoke to a priest about it, not that I got much sympathy. He warned me to be careful about succumbing to the spirit of division and suggested I embrace sports as a family event instead of bickering over it. 鈥圚e must have grown up with organized sports!

So over the years I have heeded that advice and supported my family鱿鱼视频app obsession with sports. I鈥檒l never be an expert but I like to think I鈥檓 a keen observer. I know that most athletes and coaches are uninterested in the observations of a Catholic woman whose formative years revolved around the church and not an arena or baseball diamond. But I鈥檓 going to share some observations anyway.

It seems to me that many Catholic parents don鈥檛 make sure their children attend Mass as religiously as they get their children to games. And why do some boys wear their Sunday best to an arena and not to church? I can鈥檛 believe the number of times I鈥檝e seen boys wearing white shirts and ties to minor hockey games, but not to church on Easter or Christmas. It makes no sense to me.

I also wonder why Catholic athletes and coaches obey the rules and regulations governing sports but balk at the rules and regulations of the Catholic Church. Also, I鈥檓 appalled by the spending on superfluous extras by many sports teams. Do kids really need two jerseys, track suits, customized hockey bags, leather winter jackets, spring jackets, pants, hats, hoodies, drinking canisters and various other team paraphernalia that display the team logo? I wish team organizers would consider how many more kids could benefit from team sports if fees were reduced by eliminating these extras.

Then there鱿鱼视频app the schedules. There were years when one of our kids had a game on Thanksgiving, Ash Wednesday, Easter Sunday, a family birthday and during the Christmas week. Of course, Sunday is always fair game for the schedule makers. These games often interfered with our holy obligations and relations with our extended family. On the secular celebration of Halloween, however, one league cancelled all the games so the kids could go trick or treating.

Another concern is that a generation of kids has grown up winning participation trophies. What does that teach them? Shouldn鈥檛 a trophy be something you earn? If we鈥檙e going to spend so much time at sports, we should be teaching kids that, in addition to fair play, they need to learn about winning and losing because life is like that.

If I had my way, there鈥檇 also be classroom sessions for Catholic parents and players to learn how sports can enrich family life and be used to grow in virtue. Yes, it would be a tough sell, but I鈥檇 love to see sessions on what various popes and Catholic thinkers have said about the value of sports and about its place in culture.

I鈥檇 open with what St. Ignatius of Antioch said in the first century: 鈥淓xercise self discipline, for you are God鱿鱼视频app athlete; the prize is immortality and eternal life.鈥� Much better for young athletes to be pondering that than to be discussing Don Cherry鱿鱼视频app latest rant from Coach鱿鱼视频app Corner.

Finally, as another hockey season begins, I鈥檝e heard the lament of many wives about being neglected after the first puck is dropped. So say a prayer for us and, dads, it doesn鈥檛 hurt now and again to surprise us with a dozen roses or take us dancing or out to the theatre.