When a legend in the game announces his retirement, we reminisce.
We look back on their careers, remembering the moments that lead us to believe that
they were legends in their games. The past few years we have lost some of these
legends…I reminisce…
Last year, baseball lost the last great “it guy” it had, in Derek
Jeter. By “it guy” I don’t just mean someone who was just great on the diamond,
I mean someone who commanded attention off the field as well. Jeter reminds me
of the stars of the game who played during baseball’s golden age: George Herman
Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle. These guys were all larger than life
when they were manning their positions on the field, and they were the same off
of it. The Captain was the last larger than life player in the MLB. He was the
Joe DiMaggio of our time, the only player I remember newspapers talking about
who he was dating, while he was winning championships and accolades on the
diamond. The keyword in that last sentence is newspapers. It was the time
before twitter, Facebook, and TMZ, the late 90’s and early 00’s, when reporters
had the unwritten rule that you didn’t write everything you saw. Information
wasn’t streamed, 24/7 onto a handheld device of your choice. Jeter was a great
player and teammate. He will be the last “it” persona who commanded that type
of tabloid fodder for baseball.
This past Thanksgiving saw the pride of Kiln, Mississippi, Brett Favre, get his number retired with the Green Bay Packers. Even though he retired in 2010, Thursday night brought back all the memories I had of watching him beat up on my Bucs for years. Before Favre, there were a slew of great QB’s manning the field, but none of them had the vigor and excitement that the good ole boy brought with him. Most of you have seen the NFL film footage of Favre joking with coaches and teammates during pregame and during the games, and if you haven’t, you need to YouTube it. Favre was one of America’s favorite athletes, for the opposite reasons we all loved Jeter, Favre was the everyday man. When we watched him and heard his mic’d up clips, we saw ourselves in him. The only difference being that he was a world class athlete with a rocket arm and fearless confidence. His touchdown celebrations reminded us of when we were kids in pop warner football. He never lost that inner child, but was still as competitive as any other athlete.
Then there is the man who inspired today’s topic. Kobe Bean
Bryant. Sunday brought on the announcement that Kobe will be retiring at the
end of the NBA season. He is the man that took the torch from Jordan, and he ran
with it. I can debate day and night with you about who the greatest players off
all time are, and where Kobe lands on that list. But the most important part of
it is that he is involved in the conversation at all. Through injuries, a rape
accusation, fights with teammates, and fights with coaches, he was the most
dominate player of his generation. He dominated the mid-range jump shot,
commanded defenses to shift his way, and could turn around and guard the
opponent’s best player. He often gets overlooked, but he was a two-way player,
his defense was world class. He is my favorite player of all time. There will
never be another like him. When the Lakers come to town on December 22, I will
be there, and will no doubt shed a tear.
Athletes walking away from the game is something that will always happen. It’s important to us as fans to step back and recognize the greatness we are privileged enough to watch for all those years. The body usually fails the mind, forcing these legends into a life of autograph expos, color analysis, car dealerships, and restaurants. Some get lucky and step into roles as a coach or a front office position, keeping them around their sport. Rarely do they get to walk away with the memory of confetti and champagne raining down on them. The reality is, the end is more likely to be a brick off the front of the rim, an interception, or a groundball to short.
