Rafael Palmeiro is going through a serious identity crisis right now, according to many of his fans. Joel Achenbach summed it up in his response to a poster in his blog:
This is not a story about baseball. This is not even a story about a specific person, even if, for many of us, Raffy is, or had been, a hero.
I absolutely loathe the word "hero" when it's applied to sports figures. Just because someone can hit a ball a bunch of times does not make him a "hero." Palmeiro may be a good teammate/dad/role model in the community, which is great, but that doesn't make him a hero. A hero is someone who selflessly puts his/her life on the line for others, not someone who can toss a basketball through a hoop or throw a football down a field. Too bad the real heroes aren't paid accordingly.
Speaking of selfless acts, I wish more athletes/celebrities/people of note did things like Mick Foley:
Foley has visited troops at the hospitals or made other trips for the United Service Organization (USO) in and around Washington 20 times in a 20-month period. Last night, for example, Foley took 11 injured servicemen to the Washington Nationals' game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at RFK Stadium.
"It helps lift everyone's spirits when someone like Mick comes to visit," said Dale Bouck, a 31-year-old Army sergeant from Michigan who is recovering from a broken right leg. "For a guy like Mick Foley to come do this 20 times is impressive. Most of the time, we only see people once."
Alex Nicholl is a 23-year-old lance corporal from Eureka, Calif...He loved the excitement of meeting Nationals players such as Jose Guillen, Joey Eischen and Gary Bennett, who signed autographs and posed for pictures for them before the game.
But it was the presence of Foley that made the day special for the veterans -- and the players, too. Bennett was standing in left field during batting practice when he noticed a familiar face in the bleachers.
"Isn't that Mick Foley in the stands?" he asked his teammates.
On a side note, mad props to KOB for the mention in DC Blogs. Thanks KOB!
1 comment:
Hey there, nice to see a woman throwing down some sports knowledge. Definitely a plus.
Myself and two others run a blog called DC Sports, though as a little time has gone by, sports has become just a part of it, along with social activities.
We'll go ahead and link you up when we do our next update. Good luck.
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