And now, for something completely different!”
No, I’m not talking about Monty Python (though the phrase does come from John Cleese and Co.) For once, I want to focus on the best that sports has to offer.
So let’s set aside the Spygates and Pacman Joneses of the world and talk about some stories that actually deserve to be after-school specials.
n After winning an exhausting, five-month-long appeal, double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius will be able to try to qualify for the Olympic Games in August. Pistorius, who runs on carbon fiber racing blades attached to the stumps of his legs, will compete with able-bodied athletes in his quest to race in Beijing. While he admitted that actually qualifying was a long shot, the Paralympic world record holder in the 400-meter dash said he was determined to try.
“I have the opportunity now, so I might as well grab it with both hands,” Pistorius said.
Just walking on two prosthetic legs is incredible. Breaking world records on them – well, that’s just Oscar being Oscar.
n This year, the Boston Celtics pulled off the greatest single-season turnaround in NBA history, finishing a league-best 66-16. The resurgence was spearheaded in part by the team’s CEO, Wycliffe Grousbeck, who led the group that bought the team in 2002.
Grousbeck never planned to be a part of the franchise – he was a successful attorney. But when his son was born almost completely blind, Grousbeck and his family moved 3,000 miles east so their son could attend the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass.
It’s a story you don’t even have to see to believe.
n Sometimes, tragedy brings out the best in people. Even though Hornets’ guard Chris Paul never met 8-year-old Brian, he was determined to honor the boy who idolized him. So he paid tribute to Brian, who died of cancer on May 5, by writing Brian’s name on his sneakers before his May 8 playoff game.
These stories are certainly more compelling than the O.J. Mayo saga or Barry Bonds’ latest perjury indictment. But these days, people seem more interested in the sordid than the storybook. The public grabs on to the worst sports has to offer and overlooks the truly inspirational stories. And that leaves the sports world looking like an egotistical, money-driven society devoid of morals, even when it’s not.
So next time you see a too-good-to-be-true story, give it a read. Because if a born and bred New Yorker like myself can be touched a Boston Celtics story, anything’s possible.
Sports editor Jake Simpson is a Medill junior. He can be reached at [email protected].
