Happy Martin Luther King day everybody! He had a dream, won the Nobel Peace Prize, marched on Washington, but most importantly, he gets us a day off from school every January. And I know the ladies on campus needed it, since rush is typically very stressful.
But in all seriousness, when we reflect on sports, you cannot forget about King. His vision laid the groundwork for black athletes to get where they are today. When you look at some of the best athletes in our country, they are not only black, but they are rock stars, leaders and role models.
Look at Gabby Douglas. Even though she's only 17 years old, I think she definitely has some rock star in her. Last summer, Douglas became the first black gymnast to win the individual all-around gold medal at the Olympics. And we all love Douglas. Straight from London to our television screens, we welcomed her with open arms and celebrated her like she was in our family.
Compare Douglas' story to that of Jesse Owens. If you don't remember Owens, he was the black track and field star who won four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, only to have Adolf Hitler embarrass him on the podium when Hitler refused to shake Owens' hand. Needless to say, our society has come a long way.
If you read my last column, clearly I believe I'm a movie buff. Add that to my love of sports, and you can figure that I have seen "Remember the Titans," "Finding Forrester," "Coach Carter," and many other sports films. I've seen these films a zillion times and even though I know what's coming, every single time the black athletes are being called derogatory names or returning back to hotel rooms with blood all over the walls, I am in complete shock (and I sometimes cry, shh). I'm in such a state of confusion because that kind of stuff is hard to fathom in the world we live in today.
The world we live in today is one of tolerance, acceptance and equality basically the world that King dreamed about. We accept change. We give second chances, sometimes without justification. And is there any person that embodies change, second chances and King better than Ray Lewis?
The Friday before the Super Bowl in which Lewis' Baltimore Ravens are set to play marks the 13th anniversary of the deaths of Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker. You're probably thinking to yourself, "How are the deaths of Lollar and Baker relevant to this discussion?" The answer: they are the two victims who were killed in the company of Ray Lewis.
Does anyone remember that? Think about that when he's doing his little dance before every game? Or giving (unbelievable) pre-game speeches to the Stanford University men's basketball team?
Lewis is arguably the best defensive player of all time. The guy is best tackler I have ever seen. And he's so good because of his football IQ, because he knows his opponents' offenses better than they know it themselves. But how can we forget his alleged crimes? Is it morally okay that most of the population is celebrating him right now?
In my book it certainty is not. And there is no gray area. When I watch Lewis, all I see is Lollar and Baker. I don't reason that I'm a better person than you for doing so, but that's just how my mind functions. I only see a guy who went from murderer to preacher.
Lewis has been around for a long time. Supposedly he will hang his cleats up after the Ravens lose to the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, and I trust him. I don't see much Brett Favre in Lewis. Is it possible that if you hang around long enough, like Lewis, everyone forgets about the man you used to be?
I doubt it. The baseball players who juiced are never getting in the Hall of Fame. Barry Bonds hung around so long that you would think he was in the Counting Crows, but we still all despise him.
At a funeral, people say the best things about their loved ones, and leave out all that was negative. Their flaws are glossed over and only the good remains. Cheaters become "tough" competitors; jerks become "intense" winners. It's the natural human instinct to honor those now gone. The end of athletes' careers are no different. The same process takes place. Perhaps what we need is to remind ourselves that at times like these, no one is perfect. And in order to remember people as they truly were, we need to look at every aspect of their lives, and not just the ones that draw our admiration. I think King would agree with that.
