OF HIGH DEF AND HIGHER POWERS
Tom Woldum
|
Any doubts I’ve had about a higher power were dispelled early this summer when I attended a baseball-themed event that that featured a game of “Twingo”, in which bingo-style cards were distributed to the attendees, with baseball scoring of various plays in place of the usual B-15’s and N-55’s. It was a one-round, winner-take-all game, with a grand prize of a new Samsung TV.
Though it’s easy to assume the standard I-never-win-anything stance, I felt a quiet optimism that day. As a Viking fan, I know that optimism alone is not enough to ensure victory. But, since I am also a die-hard Minnesota Twins fan, I was well aware that the Good Lord had dealt me a strong hand when the Twingo cards were distributed – He clearly wanted me to win a brand new television.
On my sheet of potential Twins-player-scoring possibilities, interspersed among the “HRs” and “ground rule doubles” was a particular row running perfectly across the center of the sheet, containing the following squares: “error,” “fly out,” “free space,” “double-play,” and “strikeout”. The Twins were in the midst of a horrible slump that soon became a horrible season. One look at that Row of Futility and I knew the spanking-new Samsung was all mine. In fact, it only took until the bottom of the second inning for my prophecy to become reality. It was like taking candy from a baby.
I was flat-out thrilled. What wonderful, benevolent higher power had granted me such a gift? Plus, I was given the choice of any size within a certain model series. My wife gently suggested a smallish set that would blend in with the rest of our décor, perhaps in the guest room, or upstairs. But I had other plans: Go Big or Go Home, baby!
I was soon in possession of a 70-inch Ultra-High Def, 4K, Crystal Screen Man-Cave Centerpiece. I then went out and spent more on a proper wall mount than I had for nearly any previous TV I had ever purchased. I lovingly placed it at the optimal spot on the wall where it would tilt left and right to deliver pure viewing pleasure from all points in the room, from the reclining couch to the pool table. Clearly, it was meant to be. Thank you, God!
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”864253″ player=”26281″ title=”3%20reasons%20why%20Cleveland%20Browns%20should%20trade%20Odell%20Beckham%20Jr.” duration=”96″ description=”Coming off a season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Cleveland Browns will be without star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. for a second consecutive game.Beckham Jr. is still trying to make it back from the torn ACL he suffered seven games in to the 2020 NFL season. It’s somewhat surprising that OBJ has taken so long to return from said injury, especially given the fact that he was seemingly set to play Week 1.” uploaddate=”2021-09-16″ thumbnailurl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/snapshot/864242.png” contentUrl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/streaming/864242/864242.m3u8″]
I may have just won the TV of my dreams at a Twins baseball event, but the real implication was all about Sundays, and the Vikings. This, it was clear to me, would change everything. I would soon be seeing Dalvin Cook crashing almost directly into my living room. I would watch with new appreciation the balletic precision of each Justin Jefferson pass route. I would be nearly hypnotized by the clear, ultra-high-def sight of Kirk Cousins’ light, piercing eyes, flicking left, then right, then left again in a metronome-like pulse, all the while growing larger and wilder, with his line unable to protect him and he himself unable to make up his mind.
Over the summer I enjoyed watching some baseball, Olympics, golf, and tennis majors on my new TV. But it was always about the Vikings. I literally spent the summer counting down the weeks, and then days, until the season opener, when I could watch the first of many Viking contests on this glorious new television of mine.
Last Sunday, I awoke early, with excitement and anticipation, knowing that today was the day. The start of a fresh new season for the Vikes, and the first high-def Viking viewing experience for me. Glory Day! And then my phone rang. I almost expected it to be Coach Zimmer himself, calling to congratulate me on my new TV and ask what suggestions I had for fixing the O-Line. Instead, it was my mom. “I’m at the hospital with your dad,” she told me. “Can you come?”
I hung up, stunned. I drove to Methodist Hospital, and learned that my dad had been admitted for a possible heart attack, but that the ongoing concern was with bleeding on the brain and two strokes. During the day he was moved from the Emergency Room to Intensive Care.
The day was long, straining, stressful. Not once did I think about my empty man cave at home, and my silent new television sitting blankly against the wall. The game proceeded without me, and though I was aware of it showing on various screens throughout the hospital, I didn’t feel particularly drawn to the action. Around 3pm I did find myself briefly in front of a very small, poorly-lit screen as the Vikings lined up for a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation. I heard someone murmur, “please God, let him make this field goal”, and all I could think was that, surely, God had better things to do with his time, power and benevolence than to influence the winner of a football game.
If I only could have somehow scooped up every prayer being said that afternoon by a football fan, in the name of their football team, and redirected them towards the care and safekeeping of my father…..that struck me as a much better use of God’s time, power, and benevolence. But I couldn’t do that, so I just stood and watched, passively, as the kick sailed through the goalposts to answer the prayers of one fan base, while the other’s went ignored.
Midway through the week, my dad remains in ICU, but he’s growing more alert. He’ll remain in the hospital for a time, then move to a transitional facility where a heavy dose of Physical and Occupational Therapy will await him. I am looking forward to Sunday’s game, although I don’t mind admitting that, with all that’s transpired this week I don’t even know who the Vikes are playing. But I’m very much looking forward to sitting down and watching it with my dad – on an 18-inch set mounted in the corner of his hospital room. I’m sure I’ll whisper a prayer or two.