BOOMER SPORTS PROTEST

WILL BOOMERPDX RAISE MONEY OR ERASE MEMORIES

This has happened to you in some form.

Your favorite book falls into the Powell’s Bookstore resale bag, but you don’t notice.

You do notice other books and give them a second chance.

After you load your book pile into the Powell’s buy back counter, you see your favorite.

But you let it go, reminding yourself how much you loved the wonderful book and hope the next owner will too.

Except the buyers at Powell’s don’t want it either.

It makes you question values, yours, theirs, and everyone you know who loves your favorite book.

Powell’s does accept it as a donation, which you hope isn’t code for the recycler.

You want to know, so you start with the buyer.

“I’ll bet you get people who’re still emotionally attached to their books,” you say. “I’ll bet baby boomers come in and talk it out.”

“All the time. They love their books.”

“Do they tell you why they’re selling them?” you ask.

“Sure. Saving room, too many books, divorce. Heard them all in ten years.”

“Ever hear the one about selling books to bash the International Olympic Committee for dropping wrestling from the Olympics?” you say.

“No, not that one. How’s it go?”

You lift another bag of books to the counter.

“These are history books. If wrestling is not an Olympic sport, what good’s history? This book talks about the first Olympic Games. Two sports, wrestling and running. If you couldn’t wrestle, you ran.”

“Seriously?”

“Not a big sports page, but it was in stone.”

“That’s funny.”

“What’s not funny is the Olympics voting for one of two sports, either wrestling or the modern pentathlon.”

“Who won?”

“Let’s just say you’ll be watching more sword fighting, gun play, and horses instead of wrestling. Take a look at the pentathlon website. One of the athletes has a gun pointed at the others..”

“Or not. It could be the angle.”

“Either way, there’s no gun in wrestling. See the books in this bag?” you say, lifting it up.

“Not history?”

“No, investment books. How to invest, when to invest, why invest now. All out the door because they canceled Olympic wrestling.”

“Investment books to bash the Olympics?”

“Have you got kids? No matter, you were a kid once. What if a kid could be faster, higher, stronger, from doing one sport early? That’s the wrestling promise, learning coordination and balance the natural way. And it adds brainpower.”

“You’re saying invest in wrestling?”

“If you had a kid, I’d say invest in wrestling, yes.”

“Did you?”

“Yes, I did. I’m an old Portland baby boomer wrestler whose two son’s wrestled. A coach named Cael Sanderson has two young boys too. He said they’ll wrestle, not because he did, but to make up for the mistakes he’ll make as a parent.”

“A coach believes in kid wrestling for more than sports? Never heard that before.”

“He’s a college coach. The important thing is his kids will wrestle in programs run by former college wrestlers. Fewer wrestling colleges means fewer wrestling coaches with college wrestling backgrounds.”

“Does that come from the logic book bag?”

“Right here. We’re talking about the Olympics dropping wrestling, but it’s been dropped in Oregon, too.”

“I thought wrestlers were fighters, not runners.”

“They’re fighting, and it’s a good one. Cutting wrestling from the Olympic core sports just adds gas to the fire behind Restore College Wrestling in Oregon.”

“Who?”

“Click the link.”