Seeing the Forest Through the Trees

Tony Dungy buried his 18-year-old son, James, this week after an apparent suicide. I have many, many things on the sports agenda that I want to rant about, but I feel this one must be discussed.

I can only imagine what Dungy must be feeling at this moment. The regrets, the possibility that he missed a 'sign', despair over the pain his son must have been feeling to push him to such an act. But I also am taking note that Dungy left immediately - with no promise to return to the Colts before the end of the season - to get things with his family in order and to grieve.

I think we can all learn from this behavior - especially the fans who criticize the professional sports community for being, well, human.

I know no one is going to get on Dungy's case for pulling away from his 'football family' for the time being. But what of the other 'human' foibles that have occurred in professional sports? I think we all need to sit back and acknowledge that the life of a professional athlete - while it is glamorous and high-paying - is grueling in terms of schedule, often lonely, often not family-oriented (please note Viking's Boat Party) and often results in the athlete being surrounded by a posse of posers.

So many examples of this lifestyle in action - let's name a few:

Mike Tyson - though Iron Mike is mentally a man on the edge, it was still he who brought home the prize money again and again. He has the heart of a warrior. The average sports fan drinks in Mike and hopes to never meet him in a dark alley. But what of his story? What took him to the place where he is now? Why, in God's name, is he not retired, living comfortably on his ranch inviting guests to casual dinners and reminiscing with Ali? The business of sport got in and totally clouded his judgment. His posse got in and milked him for everything he's worth before splitting. He never had a chance to step back and watch the charade go on about him because he was too much a part of it and still is. Sad.

Darryl Strawberry - The man cannot stay away from the white stuff. I feel like Strawberry did not get a fair chance to deal with his dependence because, again, the business of sports, the promise of more money, the nature of people wanting to say 'Strawberry is back' and the obligation to 'make it up to the team' weighed in too heavily in the recovery process. Eric Clapton has said that, though he gave up heroin decades ago, there is not a day that he doesn't think about shooting up. People who don't understand addiction are like the people who tell the homeless person to 'get a job'. It's just not that easy.

Theoron Fleury - Once again, a supreme player, this one for the NHL, who had a stellar career cut short but drug and alcohol problems, plus a famous temper. Fans don't seem to recall that he was an intergal member of the Stanley Cup-winning Flames in 1989 (his rookie year) and the Gold-Medal-winning Team Canada in 2002. All the fans could think to call him after his return from a 6-month suspension for violating his drug-abuse after-care program in 2002 was 'Crackhead Theo'.
Nice.

Yes, I know that for every example of the fans not giving the athlete/sports professional a break for showing weakness there is one in which the fans are totally justified in attacking: OJ Simpson, Ron Artest, Terrell Ownes, Todd Bertuzzi, Kobe Bryant.
But my New Year's resolution is to learn from Tony Dungy. Let the people associated with professional sports be human. Let Gretzsky go home and grieve for his mother, let Tracy McGrady leave the game early to be by his fiance's side for the birth of his child - for goodness' sake, let Marv Albert wear a wig and ladies' undergarments if he wants to. It all adds to the texture of why we love sports. I want real people to play my favorite games, not robots. I have Xbox for that. And I want the Colts to go all the way for my man, Dungy.

Happy New Year- Robin