The 2016
Olympics ended and all the awards have been handed out. These incredible
athletes worked so hard for so long in order to, not only receive a gold medal
and stand on a podium announcing to the world that they are elite, they are
extra-ordinary, and beyond mere good, but to affirm their hard work, their
diligence, their time.
Both of our
girls swam for years, so I have to be honest, our family was glued to the set.
We yelled and cheered for Katie Ledecky and who didn’t fall in love with her
smile and her effort? The four of us standing up in the family room, staring at
the screen, rooting for Michael Phelps as he won race after race, racking up
gold medal after gold medal.
I had a football
coach who assessed my coordination candidly and rather accurately, or more
appropriately, my lack thereof. I was known as a sort of quick battering ram. I
enjoyed the fullback position more so than I did the linebacker position
because as a fullback, I knew defenders were coming to get me and I prided
myself on dishing out as much or more punishment as I received. I approached my
coach about my chances of returning punts. In perfect deadpan, he said that the
punt returner was to avoid collision, not cause it. He went on to say that if I
tried to run between two trees, I’d hit them both on the way through.
So when our
gymnastics team performed, I was and still am in awe. I mean, dancing and
bouncing around on a balance beam that is only 3.9 inches wide? Seriously? The
uneven bars, the floor routine. The
Olympics made Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian, Laurie Hernandez,
and Aly Raisman household names. Their grace, their poise . . . I write this
and I find myself shaking my head in awe.
As outstanding
as those performances were, and knowing as I write this that I’ve missed a
bunch of other outstanding performances both individual and group, there are
two standout moments for me.
The first is the
post-race interview by Lilly King. She had just won a tight race and she said, "I
think it just proved that you can compete clean and still come out on top.”
“. . . compete clean and still come out on top
. . .”
As a father of
two young ladies, I was so proud. In this day and age of cheating and drugs and
substance enhancement, what a refreshing statement. Parents, pin that statement
up where your children see it each and every day. Seriously.
But my favorite
is the story of two runners who tripped and fell over each other.
In the 5,000
meter race (I mean seriously? 5,000 meters?), a runner from New Zealand, Nikki Hamblin fell on the track after her feet
got tangled with American runner, Abbey D’Agostino. They lay sprawled on the
track as the other racers kept running. All chances for a medal gone. Months of
training wasted.
But D’Agostino
put a hand on Hamblin’s shoulder and said, “Get up. We have to finish this.”
“. . . We have
to finish this.”
They could have
walked off the track and no one would have thought anything about it except to
worry about the extent of their injuries. But no. They finished, one helping
the other cross the finish line.
They finished
the race together.
We give Awards
And Medals for all sorts of things. Paper certificates and ribbons and trophies.
Some for first or second place and some just for participating. Meant to
encourage, I suppose.
But I think
Lilly King, Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D’Agostino deserve something for what they
said and did. I think Lilly King’s words, and Nikki Hamblin’s and Abbey D’Agostino’s
actions deserve something beyond what this unknown, but well-meaning blogger
writes about them.
To me, it is
this spirit, this truth that really matters in sports. Not the chest pounding,
the stupid touchdown dance, the bragging that is so commonplace in sports today.
Frankly, that sickens me. But I will remember Lilly King and Nikki Hamblin and
Abbey D’Agostino for a long, long time. I want my kids and their kids to
remember them, too. And, Katie Ledecky’s smile. That, too. Gotta love that
smile. Something to think about . . .
Live Your Life,
and Make A Difference!
To my readers:
Please feel free
to connect with me at:
Twitter
at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook
at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
If you like to
read thriller/mystery, check out:
Book One of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives:
Two thirteen
year old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of
FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all the others-
dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the possibility
exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
Six men escaped
and are out for revenge. The boys, recently freed from captivity, are in danger
and so are their families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no clues, no
leads, and nothing to go on and because of that, cannot protect them. http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
The FBI knows a
14 year old boy has a price on his head, but he and his family don’t. With no leads
and with nothing to go on, the FBI gambles and sets up the boy and his family
as bait in order to catch three dangerous and desperate men with absolutely
nothing to lose.
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete
Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys
left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know
one another, the lives of FBI Kelliher, 11 year old Brett McGovern, and 11 year
old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become
interwoven with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three
of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in
jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis
