How I Miss the Good Ole' Days
By Michael Lorenzo
Vol 4 Issue 3
Let’s see, it’s been about what eight or nine months since we watched, arguably the greatest national championship game in college football. Ohio St. Univ. defeated the University of Miami in 3 OT. The pageantry, the intrigue, the fanfare, and the drama, as undefeated Miami went for its second straight National title against also undefeated Ohio State, led by its fantastic freshman running back, Maurice Clarett.
The beauty of competition, man vs. man, settled on the grass, turf, court, ice or the track, anywhere else the games are played. Sports have become the place of enjoyment, which so many lack in their own lives. Sports take so many of us away from the problems we deal with in our lives and the world in general, lying, greed, selfishness, injustice etc., etc., etc, even if it’s only for a few hours. That’s why we love our sports.
Oops! Can I get a mulligan on that last statement?
Someone long ago said, “Art imitates life.” Well, I’m saying this, “SPORTS, not only imitates life, but SPORTS is life.” No matter what level of competition, from pee-wee league to professional, there is lying, greed, selfishness, cheating, sexual misconduct, and even murder, all in the name of sport.
Looking at the headlines in my local paper, and I don’t live in Ohio, the top story in the Sports section reads, Ohio State, Clarett Charged with lying to Police about the items stolen from a car he was borrowing. If convicted, he faces a 6-month jail sentence and/or $1,000 fine.
Or how about track star, Kelli Williams, who probably has one of the best looking bodies I’ve seen since “Flo-Jo.” After she won the 100m & 200m World Championships in France was found to be using a banned substance. (Oops! How did that get in my urine?)
Lest we not forget our daily Kobe “Bean” Bryant vs. “innocent little white girl” from Colorado. Yeah right. I still can’t believe that Kobe’s middle name is “Bean.” Can you imagine the joaning (name calling) he went through? No wonder he went to the NBA after high school.
In Texas news, we have, “How to cover up a murder and still keep your day job” by the morally repulsive, Dave “Dial M for Murder” Bliss.” I mean Oliver Stone could’ve come up with a better way to hide that mess.
In Washington, our newly acquired point guard, the proverbial leader of the team, Gilbert Arenas, still has a weapons possession charge pending. I guess he’ll fit right in with our drunk driving, high speeding, non-scoring and no-rebounding, so-called “franchise player” Kwame Brown.
Oh, how I miss those good ole’ days! Or do I? Let’s see, remember ex-football player Rae Carruth, who conspired to have his pregnant wife murdered, but was caught when he tried to hide form Police in the trunk of his car. I mean who gave him that great idea, Elmer Fudd.
Then, there’s Mike Tyson vs. “the little innocent black girl from Indiana.” Doesn’t look to good for the “Bean.”
Then, there’s the downward spiraling career of Daryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden. The tragic cocaine induced death of Len Bias. Remember, Ben Johnson and how he just flew past Carl Lewis, as if Carl was just running in place. Later, only to discover that Big Ben was all juiced up, and not from Gatorade. Carl hasn’t been the same since, did you hear him sing the National Anthem a few years ago or better still him throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game this year.
The more things change the more we see that things don’t change at all, just the people. One of my favorite books of all time says, “There is nothing new under the sun.” That’s why we can say, “Life imitates art,” because they are mirror images of each other, especially in sports. So don’t long for the good ole’ days too much, because they weren’t so good after all.
Oh and by the way, I’ve got 2 tickets on the 50 yard line for next weeks game, want to go? I thought so.
September 10, 2003
Hold tight
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