the sporting life

i am fascinated by the way human beings have the natural instinct to band together in groups. there must be some drive in our shared dna that compels us to form clubs based on mutual interests. small, large, obscure, local, nationwide, worldwide – people often seem to need a banner under which they can congregate, interact, be part of something bigger. i guess its a way of creating a social setting that is instantly comfortable thanks to a common theme shared by everyone involved.

last saturday i drove 2 hours into the mountains west of denver to a small town built next to a beautiful lake. its an old colorado resort, still relatively unspoiled. theres a long way to go before it reaches the glitzy heights of vail or aspen, which makes me perfectly happy. its nice to know some of the charming, little towns are somewhat intact. the occasion for the trip? i was singing at the annual gala for the “yacht club” – a rather major misnomer considering the size of the lake, the boats docked there, and the fact that their rustic headquarters itself is smaller than any yacht.

after checking into my motel room, i changed into my formal attire and drove the length of main street (4 blocks?) to the venue: the yacht club, a 2 story building perched on the marina at waters edge. the party theme was ‘at the movies’, so there were the pre-requisite life-size cardboard cutouts of celebrities and the oscar statue standing around on the grounds. there was a large screen hung in an outdoor pavilion and another in the very raw ground floor space of the building showing a video of movie stars accepting their academy awards. i think there were a few sad crepe paper streamers and balloons hanging about. things were better upstairs in the ‘formal’ room, which looks like a log cabin with a very tall peaked roof, and was actually quite charming. as i pushed my way through the large crowd to the bandstand, i was amazed that everyone was so glamorous. doubtful they were locals – more likely they were upper-middle class denverites with weekend houses and yachts….err, boats, in town. one beautiful woman seemed to be channeling donna karan (and i mean that in the best, most fashionable way). a man, in a perfectly fitted tuxedo, was so model-handsome that i couldn’t take my eyes off him. this was not what i expected at all. there was a profusion of teenagers, all very glam and lohan-esque, clearly enjoying their grown-up night on the town. such as it was.

the band kicked in at 9, and after the first half-hour i was getting concerned. very few people were dancing, even to our foolproof, everyone-always-dances-to-it songs. it was mostly teenagers standing around in ragged groups, swaying or bobbing up and down, while the adults stood at the perimeter chatting – a mystifying feat considering our volume level in that small room. i noticed a couple of older men near the bandstand, dressed like twin admirals, observing the scene. at 10 pm, one of them stepped over to the bandleader and tapped his watch. it took us a full 2 minutes to finish the song, and he appeared more and more anxious before we hit the final chord. i realized he looked exactly like robert rauschenberg, though i doubt rauschenberg ever wore a double-breasted, gold buttoned navy blazer, white slacks and white deck shoes. this guy belonged on a dock in greenwich, not the colorado high country. he yanked the microphone from the bandleader and sternly announced that it was 10 pm, and time for anyone under the age of 18 to be escorted home by their parents. he was obviously the man-in-charge, the stodgy grandpa who upheld the rules and ruined the evening for anyone underage. adding insult to injury, he announced that “the food is now being served…for the adults”. he handed the mic back to the band, and we continued the music. i never saw grandpa rauschenberg again, but he clearly knew what he was doing – after the teenagers left, the adults packed the dancefloor for the rest of the night.

at the end of the evening, after 4 hours of singing and jumping around like an idiot, i was exhausted. as i walked to my car among the drunken partygoers, i thought about what drew them together. did any of them actually own a yacht? not on that lake, at least. yet they gathered, dressed in their best, gave awards and speeches, shared their common interest. it was such a small moment in the scope of the world, but they laughed and drank and danced and celebrated together. how very human.