The Sporting Life and Real Life
            

            Hi Chris--

            Read your lament about Derrick Thomas, the Kansas City linebacker who was
left paralyzed yesterday in a car accident, and I felt the same pang you did
when I saw the news this morning that he'd been hurt. I did have the pleasure
of interviewing Thomas in the past, and the memory of his smile is what's
haunting me today--that smile, and the mischievous light that always shone in
Thomas' eyes even though he had to deal with another numbing tragedy before
this. Remember? Thomas' father died in a jet fighter crash a couple of decades
ago, when Derrick was only a few years old. Now this.

            I'm sure Thomas will be remembered in Atlanta this week at the Super Bowl,
especially today as the reporters descend on the players and coaches for a
reaction. But I think we both know when reality intrudes in sports, the people
in sports tend to retreat even deeper into the games they play. And they can't
wait for the games to resume.

            To be sure, there's always some sad talk about the infinity of possibilities
that are lost when something like this happens, or when some similar tragedy
comes along. There's been a spate of them recently, hasn't there? How about
that drive-by shooting that Rae Carruth, the ex-Carolina Panthers wide receiver
was recently charged with after his girlfriend was shot and died. How about
that car crash that claimed Bobby Phills' life after he and a Charlotte Hornets
teammate, David Wesley, were drag racing in their Porsches down a city street
after practice. The police guessed Phills was travelling 110 miles per hour
before his car spun out of control.

            John Rocker, the big-mouth Atlanta Braves pitcher, had a ride atop the
headlines a few weeks ago after he insulted nearly every minority group this
country harbors. But, sports being sports, I'll bet the buzz about Michael
Jordan's return to basketball as part owner of the Washington Wizards will last
far longer, and generate reams more copy--which, again, isn't surprising.

            I've always thought that people flock to sports because the people who play
them simultaneously defy and define the limits of what human beings can
achieve. You never think someone can throw as hard as Rocker or hang in the air
as long as Jordan until they come along and prove it. And not only that--they
can summon such magic consistently. And on command. That's what's so
transfixing. It's like all of us, not just the athletes, need to see someone
who's fearless and acts like they're going to live forever.

            It's been interesting to me, for example, that after all the rejoicing about
how nice it is to have Jordan back in the NBA just a year after his retirement
as a player, the next thing that most of his fans fretted about was whether his
involvement with the sad-sack Wizards will eventually cloud his legend.
Clearly, Jordan is less worried about protecting his mythic standing than his
fans are.

            I think the other thing that something like Thomas' accident does is remind
us how little life actually does resemble sports, try as we might to say it
does. After all, sports have these neat, agreed-upon rules. There's this
comforting belief in sports that no matter what happens today, no matter how
bad a certain game or loss might seem, tomorrow can always be better--and you
can do something to make it better, you know?

            Then a man like Thomas ends up in the hospital with a broken back, and you
snap back to reality.

            Maybe tomorrow will bring some better news ...

            Catch you then,
Johnette