Summer Reading Review: Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher

Over the summer, I read the book Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher. Unlike a full book, it was composed of six short stories, and in all of them the antagonist was an athlete or possessed athletic qualities. Though I learned something and connected to each story as I read, I’m going to describe the one that I connected the most with, which was on more of a personal level rather than an athletic level: The Pin.

In The Pin the main character, Johnny, was a second generation high school wrestler. His family is made up of his two parents and his little brother MacArthur. Johnny had a somewhat healthy relationship with his mother, but with his father, “The Great Cecil B. Rivers,” not so great. His father, Cecil, disciplined Johnny through physical work. Sometimes he would even demand over one thousand push ups from him, just for a smart aleck comment, and he didn't attempt to emotionally connect with his son at all. Because of this, Johnny somewhat resented his dad explaining that he “loves and hates” him. This all lead up to when Johnny found out about a parent-daughter volleyball game, which gave Johnny the idea to wrestle his dad who happened to be a three-year three-sport letterman at Coho High School and number two wrestler at the University of Oklahoma. Johnny thought that if he won, maybe he could finally prove that he was better than what his dad made he feel like he was. Cecil agreed, and though his dad was in incredible shape for his age, Johnny won the match. This really hurt “The Great Cecil B. Rivers’” ego and he acted out as a result. Johnny held his hand out to shake Cecil’s and to the audience’s horror, he hit Johnny on his head. 
When Johnny went home that night, he learned more about his father’s past. Remorseful for the way he had treated Johnny all the years of his life, he explained, “I swore it’d be different for you and me… that I wouldn’t do to you what my dad did to me. Make you feel the way I felt… He was good with you, and he’s great with Mac. But somehow I guess your own boy gets too close… I’ve raised you for seventeen years, Johnny. And it’s come to this. I wanted it to be different. I really did. I swore” (59.) What Cecil means is that his father treated him the same as he treats Johnny. This created a chain like similarity between the two generations: Cecil’s dad was abusive and cold to him, and Cecil was abusive and cold to Johnny. I could really connect to this story because like Johnny, a chain exists between my father, grandfather and brother, only instead of the abusiveness, the chain carries alcoholism and drug abuse. My grandfather drank and was frequently on drugs all throughout my dad’s life. As my dad began to come of age his life began to look similar to my grandfathers, and soon enough he was living the same exact lifestyle, and then eventually, one of my older brothers was too. 
Children living with parents who have extreme alcohol and drug abuse issues usually begin a life similar to their parent’s despite the fact they have been traumatized or emotionally devastated because of it, sometimes even beyond mental and emotional repair, because this is all they've known since they can remember. I believe that's how chains form from generation to generation, not just with alcoholism and drug abuse but really anything from like in Johnny’s case, the abusiveness, to extreme workaholism, adultery and more, so not only can I connect to this story, but many others can as well. However, I also believe that the chain can be broken if the child is aware of his or her situation and makes a certain choice to “break” the chain, a choice that I’ve made and hopefully can maintain for all the years of my life.