August 12, 1999
A Place to Play: CRC Rec Center
You see it in the parking lot. The sign stands sentry at the foot of the path that will take you on a dusty trek through the Christian Reformed Recreation Center. "BASIS," it says under the name, and quotes I Corinthians 10:31: "Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it for the glory of God." "Eat or drink" -- you can hear the apostle Paul1s well-trained rhetorical muscles flexing; he verbally flails his arms to explain how broad his gospel message reaches. If he were here, would he find a more situation-specific parallel structure to make his point? Whether you single or strike out? More...

August 5, 1999
Women's night out: Women's soccer after the World Cup
Pinewood Park is a long way from the Rose Bowl. Or is it? How much of the grandeur of the women's World Cup championship in Pasadena rubbed off on soccer farther down the charts? How much is present in Kentwood at the women's 18-and-over soccer league? More...

July 29, 1999
Love lost: Kids and sports
The good news? Kids are getting off the couches in droves. Youth participation in organized sports is soaring. Some estimates have the total number of kids in leauges around 40 million -- 12 million for basketball alone, 7 million for soccer. And so while MTV won the war, its loss in this particular battle is intriguing. Aren't there supposed to be dents in those couches, not post-its clinging to the counter reading, "Off to practice, back at 7"? What happened to the Glazed Generation, the one sitting stupefied in front of the indefatigably flashing television? What happened to the geek hackers frying away hours away in chat rooms? More...

July 22, 1999
Ice Follies: 5 AM Hockey
It is 6:30 a.m. on a Thursday morning. In the dank under-reaches of a quiet hockey arena, Rob Allen fumbles through socks in a duffel bag. In a few minutes he will be off to work at a brokerage firm. What his co-workers might not guess, except for a persistent film of sweat lining his face, is that Allen has already been through an entire alarm-clock-to-car-starting routine, a drive to the rink, a change into hockey gear, an hour and a half of hockey, and another change of clothes here in the locker room. It is 6:30 a.m. More...

July 15, 1999
On Ice: Figure Skating Open
I've never thought it was very important whether or not figure skating is a sport. With its athletically irrelevant incorporation of costumes and music, I've always maintained that it isn't, but I don't think it's much use arguing anymore. People will watch what they want to watch, irrespective of definitions, and remain dedicated to participating in a variety of activities -- Sport or No Sport. The definition debate was leavened locally with the recent inaugural Grand Rapids Open Figure Skating Competition. More...

July 1, 1999
Free Kicks: Adult Rec League Soccer
The woman in the lawn chair says it, and she speaks for all of us: "Shut that thing off!" A few yards away, from the funky reaches of a duffel bag, cries a cell phone, an insistent infant demanding attention. Haven't we learned by now that in the ugly convergence of our work and our play, the work never goes away quietly? More...

June 24, 1999
Intriguing Epilogue: Scott Plaisier
Nearly one month removed from his college graduation, it is painfully evident Scott Plaisier hasn't learned his lesson. There he goes again, even now, darting under the basket at a charity event, throwing his 6-foot, 170-pound frame to the behemoths who belong there. Tonight, every time he releases a breath in a premature exhale while bashing against players who dwarf him, his basketball-playing life will slowly slip out with it. More...

June 17, 1999
Face Off: Inline hockey
You hear it the minute you step through the doors -- a chorus of smacking sticks shattering the stillness of the vast warehouse. The giant edifice next to the Meijer store in Jenison may be cavernous, but it doesn't take long to trace the smacking sounds to the hockey rink on the right, where players glide around and stab at the puck on a surface covered with blue lines and red faceoff circles. It takes a little longer to realize the players aren't on ice skates, but wheels. More...

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