The Art of a Warrior

Anyone who watched Saturday's Game 3 matchup between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics witnessed something truly remarkable, they witnessed one of the gutsiest performances in recent memory, they witnessed a warrior.  But before I get to what happened Saturday, I'd like to, as I often do, take a look back at some moments or players in sports history that exhibited tremendous courage or determination while refusing to give up or take off.

Let's start with a man known throughout the baseball world as the "Iron Man", none other than Mr. Cal Ripken, Jr.  Looking back at Cal's illustrious career it's no wonder why he was dubbed "The Iron Man".  Ripken amassed a ridiculous 2,632 consecutive games played, a streak that spanned over the course of seventeen seasons and that shattered Lou Gehrig's previous mark of 2,130, a number widely considered  untouchable.  Ripken, a 19-time all-star and member of the exclusive 3,000 hit club, is widely considered one of the greatest shortstops AND third basemen of all-time, paving the way for the likes of Alex Rodriguez to switch from short to third.  While Cal was blessed with relative good health over the course or his career, he never took time off or stopped grinding along.

You never saw Cal Ripken, Jr. dogging it.

Backtracking a few years, and switching over to the gridiron, our next example comes from the San Francisco 49ers and one Mr. Ronnie Lott.  The Hall of Fame safety did something that most people people would never have done.  In a 1985 season finale against the Dallas Cowboys, Lott's left hand collided with the helmet of Cowboys' RB Tim Newsome, which resulted in his pinky finger being shattered in multiple places.  When trainers told him he would most likely miss the rest of the season, meaning the playoffs, Lott had other plans.  In the opening round of the playoffs, the following week, out comes Ronnie Lott, in full uniform, with his fingers heavily wrapped and in excruciating pain.  Lott played through the playoffs, and to clarify just how bad the injury was, he had to choose between a complicated surgery involving skin graphing and bone reconstruction, and amputation, of which he chose the latter.  Now THAT is dedication.

Ronnie Lott is one of the hardest-hitting defenders of all time, but also one of the toughest.  Just look at his eyes.

That brings us to one of the most polarizing figures in the history of sports, Tiger Woods.  In the 2008 US Open, Tiger Woods put in one of the most memorable performances in golf, and sports, history.  Gimping along Torrey Pines, in what was latter diagnosed as a torn ACL and two stress fractures in his tibia, Tiger Woods put on a show.  He defeated Rocco Mediate, who in any other situation would have been the feel-good story of the tournament, not only in a playoff, but on the 19th hole of a playoff.  Woods was tied with Mediate after Sunday's 4th round, but also hung in there to remain tied after another 18 holes played the next day.  And on the first sudden-death hole following the playoff, Woods bested Mediate to win his 14th major tournament, which currently stands as his last major victory.  Woods, who could be seen wincing after every swing and limping around the course, not only managed to play through 91 holes of golf with such an injury, but won the tournament, an astonishing feat not soon to be forgotten.  Say what you want about the man as a person, but on the golf course, the man is as fierce a competitor as you'll ever find.

Woods, clearly in pain, put in an astonishing effort, solidifying his reputation as a true competitor.

Now to Saturday.  In the third quarter against the Heat, Celtics' point guard Rajon Rondo got tangled up with Heat star Dwyane Wade, which led to Rondo's left arm hyperextending against the court and dislocating in a manner that was hard to watch.  Rondo would leave the game only to come back in the fourth quarter after team doctors managed to pop his elbow back into place.  Now, for any who saw the play unfold, I am willing to bet that nobody thought that he would return for the next game, let alone the next quarter.  He went on to finish out the game with his left arm hanging limp against his side, clearly only playing with his right arm.  In order to fully appreciate the courage and tenacity that Rondo displayed, one would need to see the play, which is to follow:

Note: Viewer discretion is advised due to graphic imagery.

Rondo went on to downplay the injury in a postgame interview saying that it's still stiff, but it shouldn't prevent him from playing in Monday's Game 4 in Boston.  However, the injury was clearly still bothering him as he hung his left arm, motionless, by his side.  Having just re-watched the play as I write this, I am still astounded as to how the 25-year-old University of Kentucky product came back in to play.  

Now when anyone talks about the great acts of determination and effort displayed by professional athletes, in any sport, that list better include Rajon Rondo.  Like Ripken, Lott, and Woods before him, the kid is flat-out a competitor, a warrior.

PS: Mom, if you're reading this, Happy Mother's Day.  I love you so much.  And a Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there, hope you enjoyed your day, you deserve it.

Why We Should Applaud Philadelphia Fans (For Once)

Last night, at Citizens Bank Park, which featured a Sunday Night Baseball affair between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies, something happened which made me, the biggest critic of the behavior of the fans from the City of Brotherly Love (ironically enough), and many others tip our proverbial caps in honor of the patriotism exhibited throughout the stadium.  But first may we take a look back at why this commendable act is something to applaud...

As long ago as 1968, the Phillies organization asked then-20-year-old Frank Olivo, who would dress up as Santa for the final game of every season, to go onto the field and dance with the cheerleaders in honor of the Christmas season.  What ensued was less than respectable.  One snowball was pelted onto the field at Olivo, followed by hundreds more, and before long the entire stadium was participating.  Christmas Spirit at its finest.

Then, we move onto 1972, where in a matchup against the St. Louis Blues, a Flyers' fan decided it would be a great idea to pour beer on the Blues' Head Coach's head and bombard him with a slew of garbage.  (Oh, and this was after a handful of Blues' fans had gotten jumped earlier in the game.)  This led to a couple of Blues jumping the glass to go after the classy fan and multiple fights breaking out.  Hey, I'm all for heckling opposing players and coaches, but to throw things at a coach and christen him with beer is a little uncalled for, just saying.

Moving forward a couple of decades, we start at the 1997 MLB draft, where the Philadelphia Phillies had selected J.D. Drew, a current member of the Boston Red Sox, with the second-overall selection.  Drew got a little greedy and demanded $10 million from the ball club in order to sign a contract.  The Phillies, who were not too keen on the idea of paying an unproven player such a large sum of money, refused to offer him that much.  Drew then decided that he would not sign with the team.  Fast forward to August 1999.  The St. Louis Cardinals came to Philadephia to start a series with the hometown Phillies, and who do they have on their roster but J.D. Drew.  In the bottom half of the first inning, the game had to be delayed upwards of ten minutes for center field to be cleaned after fans launched an army of "D" batteries at Drew.  Now may I remind you that "D" batteries are not the cute little ones you put in your remote or your Game Boy, but large batteries that are used to power more heavy duty items.  Now was Drew deserving of ridicule for his actions? Absolutely! He was greedy and any fan should have been upset.  However, putting the man in harm's way is not an appropriate response for shunning your favorite baseball team.

Now, this is an acceptable way to make your feelings known, accompanied by a fair amount of yelling so he actually hears you.

This... not so much.

Our next example is not too far away, as it occurred a mere two months later.  The Dallas Cowboys traveled to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles.  After attempting to catch a pass by fellow Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin was hit and did not get up.  He did not move. Now as a side note, Irvin was a cocky player and thought he was the greatest player to ever walk the field and played for the rival Dallas Cowboys, but even this was no excuse for what was to follow.  Instead of the usual ooooooohh you hear when a player lay motionless on the field, followed by silence out of concern for a fellow human's safety, Eagles fans throughout the stadiums began to cheer.  Yes, that is correct, they began to cheer.  And what is worse is that when the medical staff ran onto the field to assist the injured receiver, the cheers grew even louder.  Now, I don't care how much you hate a player (and this coming from a person who wished that the Buffalo Sabres would slash Flyers' defenseman, Chris Pronger's, broken hand due to my displeasure with his attitude and play on the ice), there is no time where it is appropriate to cheer when a human being's life is hanging in the balance. None. Michael Irvin never played another game after the neck injury he suffered in this game.

Inexcusable.

Finally. we come to May 2010 as a fan at a Philadelphia Phillies' game, intoxicated, was behaving in a rather unruly fashion.  The man sitting next to him (an off-duty police officer), with only his 11-year-old daughter in between them, asked the man to stop using vulgar language in front of his daughter.  Then, the man, identified as 21-year-old Michael Clemmens, in response to his neighbor's request, induced vomiting onto the young girl.  Now, this wouldn't have been so bad if it was onto the cop or something because it would at least have been somewhat humorous, but when the act is done onto a child, a little girl at that, then it becomes heartless and sickening (no pun intended).  The cop, doing the smart thing, let others around him take action and jump Clemmens, because, as he reported in an interview after the game, did not want to be escorted out of the game and leave his daughter all alone.  (Also when the police got down to where the incident took place, Clemmens struck the officers repeatedly in an attempt to avoid arrest, another admirable response).

Looks like Clemmens got what he had coming.  It's a real shame they had to defile such a beautiful face though.

Oh, and did I mention the city of Philadelphia installed a jail, complete with judge and courtroom, in Veterans Stadium (home to the Phillies and Eagles) in 1998 due to the excessive levels of illegal behavior? Yeah, that happened too.

Ok, back to last night.  During the ninth inning, and a little after 11 o' clock, with the game tied at 1 apiece, news broke that US Navy SEALs had killed al-Qaeda leader, and Public Enemy number 1, Osama bin Laden.  Americans all over the country and college campuses alike rejoiced in honor of a victory for Americans all over.  As the news trickled in to fans across the stadium, and right around the time I was driving by en route to Philadelphia's 30th Street Station to catch a bus back to Boston, a chant erupted through the ballpark, and for once, it wasn't derogatory.  Instead it was a chant of "U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!"  

Get the full effect of it here.  I got chills.

Now, while my initial reaction was filled with splendor and glee after hearing about the chant, it hit me that these are the same fans that cheered while Irvin lay motionless and vomited on a young girl.  For the first time in my life, and maybe the last, I wasn't disgusted, disheartened, or disappointed with the actions of Philly fans, but I was actually proud of them, and really, really impressed.

I guess I, and I hope many others, have learned from this is that no matter which team we support, which part of the country we come from, or what race, religion, or socioeconomic class we belong to, we are all first, and certainly foremost, Americans.  Not since 9/11 have I witnessed such unity and collective joy as a country.  It certainly puts it all in perspective, and should make us all thankful for the freedoms and privileges we have as citizens of this great nation.  I truly am proud to be an American, and to our troops overseas, as well as the fans of the city of Philadelphia... thank you.