Courage

I should have put this post BELOW the Sam Cassell post, so read it first, then come back up to this one.

Are ya back? Okay, good.

Friday afternoon Diane and I drove up to Greene, IA, northwest of Waterloo, to watch my son, a sophomore, run in a high school track meet. I had been thinking about Sam Cassell this week, and other guys like Kerry Wood and Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa...guys who soil their games through apathy, cheating, steroids, lack of heart to come back from injury, etc.

Then I saw some young men who reminded me how great sports can be. One of the kids on Justin's team runs the 110-meter high hurdles and the 400-meter low hurdles. He has no hope of winning, he's not fast. He has to wear special tennis shoes instead of regular track spikes because of a severe heel problem, possibly from birth, my son is not sure. He finishes 3-4 seconds behind...a virtual eternity...in the 110's. While he's running, his teammates implore him to go faster and cheer him on, supporting him all the way. He smiles, puts his sweats back on, and goes into the infield to rejoin his team before his next event. He comes back out for the 400 Lows, and finishes well off the pace again. But he checks his time, smiles, and comes back to the team. They congratulate him. His only concern is having fun and his only goal is setting new personal best times. That's why he runs.

Later, a young man from another school (there are students from 14 Iowa high schools at the event) skips by Diane and I, with an obvious disorder or ailment. His legs don't bend much, and his hips appear to be very tight. He hops more than he actually runs. He is about 5-foot-4, 100 pounds soaking wet. He is in uniform. His event? The 100 meter dash. No hope of winning. He doesn't care. Finishing and setting personal bests are his goal, too. The gun goes off, the kids take off. When he comes by us at the 40-meter mark, he is 40 meters behind. He finishes. The crowd and his teammates cheer him on all the way.

Still later, my boy competes in the 2-mile run. There are 16 starters, after one of eight laps, Justin is in 10th, side by side with a kid we later find out is a senior from Mason City Newman high school. Justin, as I said, is a sophomore, he looks strong against the upperclassmen, and Di and I cheer him on every lap. His teammates across from me in the infield do the same. The lead pack of four steadily pulls away, and I notice the leaders catching a young man in a gold and black uniform who is way, way, way behind. He gets lapped with about two and a half laps to go, but he doesn't stop. He keeps competing. The winner crosses in just over 10 minutes, Justin makes a late kick to pass two kids and finishes 8th in just over 11 minutes. I am very proud. I couldn't run a lap right now, let alone 8.

But what he does next makes me more proud. After catching his breath, after resting in the infield for a couple of minutes, he sees the young man in black and gold finally finishing, some four or five minutes later. My son gets up on still tired and wobbly legs, and goes 25 yards over to the other young man and pats him on the back and tells him something. He then comes over to me and I ask him what he said to the kid, he said, "I told him 'good job, you always finish and you always try hard. It's good running with you.' I've run with him before."

I didn't write this to only brag up my son (although yes, I'm bragging him up...I'm proud of him!). I wrote this because of all the kids, all the courage, all the support they get in all the sports they play. And this was at one small track meet with kids from 14 small Iowa schools, whose total enrollment would probably equal Pekin + Richwoods. I can only imagine how many youngsters are doing this every day around the country. Beating the odds. Pushing themselves. Not letting their deficiencies change them in any way. Not cheating to get better. Not quitting because "it isn't worth it." Not staying home and collecting varsity letters because "my arm hurts a little bit.

I don't hate pro sports, I love pro sports. When I see the packages that some of the overpaid underperforming CEO's in this country steal from their employees, I'm the first guy to defend professional athletic pay. But I won't defend guys who collect money and won't try. Or whine while getting paid. Or won't play because of a little "ow-ee". Or have to cheat to set a record.

I can't wait until my next track meet. I enjoyed the heck out of it.