Trees, Tomboys, and Seat Belts
            

            Hi--

            I, too, have my share of pre-Title IX sports injuries. A question: Were all
girls growing up in the mid- to late '60s and early '70s swinging from trees
Tarzan-style?

            Or was it just you and me?

            The Toledo version of the tomboy-in-the-tree episode is pretty basic: I'm 7
years old and reaching for the rope as I prepare to leap. The kids who are in
charge of pulling the rope from below yank it too soon. And I go thudding to
the ground.

            The plaster cast for my broken right wrist reached all the way to my
shoulder. At first I was chagrined, to say the least. It was late summer, and
there still were many days and nights of sports remaining before school started
again.

            But the cast did come in helpful with some of the bullies on the block.
Defending my little sister and brother, I conked a few bigger kids on the head
in those weeks. That was fun.

            You know, some injuries aren't humorous. And some are downright sad. I don't
know Derrick Thomas--I've never interviewed him, never met him--but I can't
stop thinking about him.

            Who can imagine what that poor guy is going through right now? He's a
nine-time Pro Bowl linebacker with Kansas City, and while going to the airport,
his car hits a patch of ice and he's not wearing his seat belt and he's thrown
from the car and he's paralyzed from the waist down. I guess doctors don't know
if it's forever or not, but it doesn't sound good.

            You picture these guys grunting in the weight room for hours a day, lifting,
running, sweating. You've watched them. I've watched them. And then he doesn't
put on his seat belt (such a pro-athlete thing, eh?) and his spine snaps in two
places and that's it.

            Apparently, he's a good guy, one of those players who is great about
charities and really into his community. And I read that the other man who was
thrown from the car ran Thomas' charity golf tournament. That man died in the
accident.

            This makes me sad.

            Do you think this has quieted any of that Super Bowl bluster down there in
Atlanta? Do you think even one pro athlete who didn't wear his seat belt
yesterday wore it today? Probably not. They're all fearless. They'll all live
forever. Right?

            Until tomorrow ...
Chris