Dear Oliver – The Old Ball Game

The world came to town last month as you celebrated your 2nd birthday. The World Cup soccer championship games were played in North America in the summer of 2026, and several matches were played here in Atlanta. Since the games are only played every four years, it was a pretty big deal. It is the world’s biggest sport, and I wonder if you will be interested in it someday.

I first became aware of the scale of the World Cup in June of 1974 when I was on a Polish freighter in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean escorting some animals from Bremen, Germany to the port of Montreal, Canada. They were bound for the zoo where I worked in Toronto. The Polish crew members were listening to a World Cup game on the radio, and they were wildly cheering and hollering as Poland beat Argentina by three goals to two.

Your first direct sporting experience occurred a few days after Argentina beat England in the semifinal game here in Atlanta. On Friday, July 17, 2026, you attended a professional baseball game at Truist Park stadium in Atlanta with your dad and me. We watched the Atlanta Braves beat the Texas Rangers 15 – 1. You weren’t very interested in the game but seemed to enjoy the noise of the crowd, the light-up scoreboards that wrapped around the stadium, and the box of popcorn that you held in your lap.

You have been born into a sports-minded family. Nobody will force you to play sports, but I do hope you will take an interest in playing something. Your Dad was a good football and basketball player in high school. I played basketball in high school and college.

So, whether you play football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, soccer, golf, or something we haven’t even invented yet, we’ll be there for you—although, by that time, I will be propped up in the bleachers, wondering which player is you, and trying to remember where the bathrooms are.