There have been three events in the sporting world this week that have caused me to reflect. Maryland won the NCAA Championship, baseball had its first opening day post 9/11, and Michael Jordan scored a career low two points on Tuesday night. At first glance these events may seem random, but they aren't. Instead, they provide us with the opportunity to reflect on life and sports.
I am thankful that Maryland won the National Championship. Not because I am a big Terps fan - I had never rooted for them prior to Monday night - but because Maryland seniors Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxter, and Byron Mouton, along with coach Gary Williams, all deserved to win.
In a day where players frequently skip all or part of college and jump to the NBA, Dixon, Baxter, and Thompson were rewarded for hanging around. Not only can they wear their championship rings proudly, but more importantly they will have earned their college degrees. In the case of Dixon and Mouton, both players have been forced to deal with unthinkable adversity. Dixon lost both his parents to complications resulting from HIV and Mouton's brother was murdered during the season.
Coach Williams deserved to win because 13 years ago, he returned to his alma matter and rescued a program that was in the midst of scandal. The championship just reemphasizes what everyone should have already known - Williams, Dixon, Mouton, and Baxter succeeded because of perseverance and courage.
While Maryland was the favorite in the championship game, Goliath had the heart of David in this case. Sometimes the favorite really does deserve to win.
When we think of adversity in our own lives, we only need to look back at the example set by Dixon, Mouton, and Williams to realize that if they were able to overcome death and scandal in the national spotlight, we should be able to overcome our comparatively minor issues.
I am also thankful for Opening Day. In the wake of 9/11, who could predict whether Opening Day would ever be the same again?
But Monday's Opening Day had the same effect on me that it has every year that I can remember, dating back to 1988 when Darryl Strawberry hit two homeruns against the Montreal Expos.
Everyone always says that Opening Day represents a new beginning, and that is certainly true. However, for me, the commencement of baseball season is more symbolic of the end. Winter is over, spring has arrived, and summer is on its way.
In the words of Ken Burns, author of Baseball, "Baseball is a leisurely game that demands blinding speed, and the only one in which the defense has the ball. It follows the seasons, beginning each year with the fond expectancy of springtime and ending with the hard facts of autumn...It is a haunted game in which every player is measured against the ghosts of all who have gone before. Most of all, it is about time and timelessness, speed and grace, failure and loss, imperishable hope - and coming home."
Sometimes we get caught up in the pettiness of everyday life or get pissed off that the owners and players are in a constant fight over money that most of us can only dream of. Despite this and all that we have experienced over the past six and a half months, at least for me, Opening Day still represents everything good.
Outside of playing centerfield for the New York Mets, I don't think there could be anything better than having the opportunity to write about sports. While I might complain on a daily basis about foolish things such as having too much homework, Opening Day is my time to step back and remember that things really are pretty good.
And finally, I am thankful that Michael Jordan returned to the NBA. In the first column I ever wrote, way back in September, I spoke about how Jordan was making a terrible mistake by coming back yet again. I was wrong.
I said that the tragedy of 9/11 "should tell Jordan that his time on earth is not infinite. It should let him know that there are things to be done in his life away from basketball, and as God-like as he may be in basketball, he is mortal and his life is limited." I stand by that statement, but I think that Jordan already knew that.
At age 38 Jordan realized that he was running out of time to do something that he truly loves - play basketball. We were all worried that he would tarnish his reputation by playing at a standard less than what we had come to expect - how stupid.
Prior to falling victim to injury, Jordan was running neck and neck with Jason Kidd for the MVP award. Still, that is not the point. Jordan didn't care if he was the same as he had been, rather he just wanted to give basketball one last shot before it was too late.
So when Michael scored a career low two points in 12 minutes against the Lakers on Tuesday night, I was not sad. Instead, I was thankful for having had the opportunity to witness his wonderful first half of the season and thankful for the lesson that he has taught us - one which extends far beyond the court.
Jordan has taught us not take things for granted. The fact of the matter is that eight games from now his career might be over for good. However, he got to play perhaps, one final season before it was too late, and that was all he wanted.
From Jordan we should learn that doing what we want to do is not a risk. Rather, the only risk is not trying and then having to wonder "what if" we had only attempted. Trying to play basketball one more time could never tarnish what the man has already accomplished, and it won't prevent him from being a front office success once he laces up his Air Jordans for a final time. Jordan knows this, and we should take his knowledge and apply it to our own lives.
Sure athletics today are chock full of crap at times, but if you can let yourself see beyond the dollar signs, there really is a lot to be thankful for. Sports can teach us lessons outside of winning and losing - if you look hard enough you can learn about the importance of perseverance, courage, continuity, taking a risk, cherishing life, and so many other things.
Lou Gerhig, the great Yankee firstbaseman said it best on July 4, 1939 in his farewell speech. He was dying but he had no regrets. "Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."
