If you are here, you are a sports fan, and like us, you have periodically
seen brilliance, passion, even genius. Hard work is rewarded and championships
won.
From time to time we also see stunning examples of man's spirit triumphing
over adversity. It's easy to recall Michael Jordan playing with the flu,
having to be helped off the court. One of our enduring images is Lou
Gehrig's final day at Yankee Stadium, and closer to our own time, Kerry Strug's
brilliant focus carried the day for the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team.
Bernard King came back from injuries time and again.
Somehow, though, Lance Armstrong's comeback is the most spectacular we've
seen in a good while. In case you missed it, he was diagonesed with cancer
and lost a lot of muscle mass, not to mention time. Today he won the Tour
De France, something which seemed inconceivable only a few months ago.
Armstrong had testicular cancer and it had spread a good ways, as far as his
brain. This would have killed most people. Yet not only did he
defeat it, he also resumed his brilliant career. It's common sometimes to make
fun of athletics and athletes as being dumb jocks and so forth. What's
missed in this simplistic reaction is the discipline necessary to be a
top-flight athlete. Schools often fail to take the innate discipline of
athletes into account - surely if they can train their bodies so minutely
they can train their minds at least as well.
Armstrong's triumph goes a long way towards reversing this prejudice, and so
does his sense of self: the cycling, he says, comes after the survival.
Congratulations to him on a brilliant performance, and for keeping a sense of
perspective.