In the past 25 years I have seen many things in the world of sports. The following is based on my opinion and interpretation of history as it pertains to my world. To borrow a line from Mythbuster Adam Savage: “I reject your reality and substitute my own.” Add that perspective to a well-known Bob Knight quote, and you get this email.
Baseball
My first love as a kid has treated me like that girl you didn’t want to bring home to Mom. As bad as she was for you, you just couldn’t help but hang around with her. I am of the generation who’s childhood Poster-Heroes were revealed to be cheating. I now can look back at the guys I used to look up to, and all I feel is disappointment. I feel like steroids not only robbed the baseball world of an entire generation of Hall of Famers, it has somehow left a chip in the boyhood bliss of my earliest fanhood. Unfortunately, I feel the Jeff Bagwell effect as well. Not only do we know about McGwire and Sosa, I can’t help but be cynical of my Atlanta guys like Ryan Klesko and Javier Lopez. To add to it, and I almost feel bad for even thinking this, I’m even skeptical of one of my favorite guys to watch in a Braves uniform, Cancer comeback Andres Galaraaga. I hope beyond all hope he was completely legitimate.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the sport I loved first, though. Seeing the influx of young talent into the game has renewed my hope for the future. Stephen Strasburg, Aroldis Chapman, Jason Heyward, and Bryce Harper look to be America’s Pastime’s future. A new generation of athletes, physical freaks, seem to be invading all sports, not just baseball. The future is much brighter than the past, I just selfishly wish it wasn’t MY past.
Football
I’ve seen a generation of great quarterbacks get replaced, then enshrined. Now guys not much older than me are setting records and lighting up Sportscenter. Now I’m older than the kids running the college teams, but still find myself in child-like awe sometimes. I’ve seen the Michael Jordan of college football come and go, and his backup reveal himself as the sport’s Lebron James. I’ve watched Brett Favre come and go, and…come…and…go…and…come…and…go. I’ve watched my three favorite players as a kid go from winning championships together to broadcasting, broadcasting, and…dancing? I’ve witnessed some amazing and jaw dropping plays, and witnessed the “wussification of America” reveal itself not once, but twice in the NFL this year. Now I’m just waiting on them to trade the pads for flags…
Basketball
Basketball has become a bigger part of my life than I ever thought it would be, and has done so for all the right reasons. Okay, MOSTLY the right reasons. I had the privilege of helping coach my alma mater for 4 years, and, thanks in large part to the head coach, now am the proud owner of two State Championship rings. The coaching staff and the players have become a family unto itself, and I was lucky to have been a part of a family that has established a program and a tradition that has and will continue to better the school.
Outside of my own personal world, I’ve watched the rise of the Chosen One (barf), and his fall from grace (The Decision? Really? Good idea, guys). I’ve met one the best coaches in history, and cheered on his protégé. I’ve consistently (and currently) pulled for one the best shooters in history, and watched him begin to work his way off the bench. To cap it off, I might be right smack in the middle of a back-to-back run for my favorite college team. If baseball was the girl I wouldn’t bring home to Mom, then basketball is the girl I’m gonna marry.
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