In sports, some moments, events and individual players can remind you the game is sometimes more than just two teams trying to score more points or win more games than the opponent. Watching my usual lineup of sports programming Sunday, I couldn’t help but think back on some of sports memorable times and people that enforced the notion that the game is so much more than a game.
As I watched the Daytona 500, I remembered two years ago when Dale Earnhardt tragically died on the final lap when his car crashed into turn four at 180 mph.
Earnhardt was the epitome of NASCAR, a sport that has gained its popularity in the last 20 years, when Earnhardt virtually ruled the sport by winning 76 races. His death essentially gave him legendary status because it was almost fitting he died not only doing the greatest thing he loved but that it happened at the racetrack he dominated for his entire career.
In 1998 when Earnhardt finally captured the elusive Daytona 500 win that had eluded him for 20 years, all 43 pit crews lined up in the infield grass to shake Earnhardt’s hand as he drove to the victory lane. Earnhardt’s nickname was “The Intimidator,” and he earned the respect of all the drivers in his sport by never backing down.
Watching the replay of Saturday’s LSU-UC Santa Barbara 94-90 triple- overtime game, I marveled at the resiliency and heart both teams played with, neither side giving up, even when defeat stared them in the face.
When the game finally ended, one thing was clear on the players’ faces — they had fun. In a time when college athletics has become a money-driven machine that exploits its participants, it’s refreshing to see the players still relish playing for the pure enjoyment of the game and compete with such fire and intensity.
Sunday also was Michael Jordan’s 40th birthday. Though his game was canceled due to bad weather in Washington, it’s amazing he can still compete in a league where 18-year-olds are drafted straight from high school. He’s averaging 18.6 points and has proved he can still torch teams for 45 points on occasion.
After all his accomplishments, including six NBA titles, 10 scoring titles and five Most Valuable Player awards, he still had the desire to play the game. He could have retired for good after the 1998 Finals, when he hit the game-winning shot over Utah’s Byron Russell and sealed his legacy as the greatest man to ever touch a basketball.
Looking on my wall at The Advocate posters of LSU’s national baseball championships, my thoughts wandered to the 1996 College World Series. Warren Morris came up with the Tigers trailing 8-7 and Tim Lanier on third base and hit the first pitch out of Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb., to win the national championship. The shot, which gave LSU its third title of the decade, captured the excitement and drama of two teams playing for the ultimate prize in sports.
Finally, before I went to sleep, I popped in my tape of the last two minutes of last November’s LSU-Kentucky game: “The Bluegrass Miracle.” Watching Devery Henderson tip and finally catch the 75-yard touchdown pass, I stopped the tape and focused on the UK fans, who had stormed the field thinking their team had won.
One gentlemen in a blue tie expressed the true emotion of such an improbable, yet spectacular play. He was running down the field and as soon as he saw quarterback Marcus Randall throw his hands in the air, the look on his face went from utter delight and happiness from upsetting a Top 25 team, to near horror and disbelief at having victory snatched away.
It was a perfect ending to a good day in sports.