Knicks in 5!

Much to our children's ongoing chagrin, our family does not own a television. In their early years, we would allow our kids to watch carefully selected Pixar films or Sesame Street episodes ('Old School' only, of course, the ones we'd grown up with in the 1970s), but otherwise, we wanted our kids to live in the realms of books, imagination, and the outdoors. Now, of course, they're as much screen-addicted as any other adolescent, but we like to think it made some difference to their spirits to be raised without ready access to all of that when they were young.

But the one place where we regret not owning a proper TV is with sports events. In my 20s I got hooked on NHL games, thanks to some good friends and roommates. Our son has become a major Knicks fan in the last few years. And the World Cup, well, of course. So we're often looking for places to watch games, beyond the meager online fare we can access on a laptop. Tonight we'll be at a watch party for the first US game, and tomorrow with some NYC friends ready to scream for the Knicks. All of this is a radical change from our usual evening quiet. But isn't that what summer is supposed to be for? Having fun together with people we love: this also is a spiritual discipline.