30 for 30 LANCE: "My Truth"

While I do love a good "Letter to the Editor" very seldom do I read the editor's letter in any magazine. It's all too easy for me to pass up. However, Matt Malone, SJ the editor of America had me at hello...or rather kept my attention as he spoke to life in prolonged quarantine. He wrote

The world is an awfully tough place to call home right now. In addition to the economic and public health crises, there is the general desolation that pervades the public discourse. Every time we turn on the television, there is one group of people, who believe the world is ending, yelling at another group of people, who believe that it’s just beginning. 

But both groups of people have something in common: They are joyless. There is a serious joy deficit in both the church and the world these days. Some of the most visible Christians, for example, look as if they haven’t had a joyful thought in 10 years. That’s a big problem, for them certainly, but also because joy is what makes our witness truly credible, what changes the mode of the giver and the receiver. Joy is what makes our faith attractive, even what makes it intelligible. Without joy, to paraphrase St.Paul, we are just clanging cymbals.

And this, my friends is precisely the difference between the five-part 30 for 30 docu-series: "The Last Dance" and the two part 30 for 30: "Lance."

What I found so compelling about "The Last Dance" and why it captured the attention of so many sports fans and those who aren't is because of joy. Joy cannot be faked. It is not a virtue that is "on demand." To me, it is even elusive in that one can be going through hardship and grief, loss and frustration and STILL find joy! Steve Kerr has claimed joy as essential to his coaching philosophy with the Warriors. "The Last Dance" shows from whence that came.

To watch the three hour program on Lance isn't devoid of joy, but I challenge you to find much of it.

The work of film maker Marina Zenovich, the first episode chronicles the rise of Lance Armstrong and the second shows the fall. In an interview with Mina Kimes on ESPN Sports Daily, Zenovich admits "The fall is much harder." 

People are quick to draw comparisons between Michael Jordan and Lance Armstrong—two of the all time greatest athletes in their respective sports. Though there are similarities, I find that claim to be very limited and over-simplified. However, one similarity worth noting is that both men had creative license over their films. Neither one of them had a single interview or respondent eliminated. Both directors emphatically verified this as true. 

To me, this is important because the primary question of myself I asked while watching "Lance" was Is he telling the truth? For example, the opening story is simply fantastic. I love the way Zenovich cut up the dialogue with introductory credits. She strings the viewer along, only to have this dramatic incident, rife with yelling and shouting obscenities end in a way totally unexpected. I shared this story with a friend from Texas. He didn't laugh, he didn't smile. I looked at him totally confused. He immediately responded, "that story has been told so many times and not once has it ever been verified as true. It is a complete urban legend. No one can confirm who, where or when it happened." I wanted to retort and then I recalled my primary question: Is he telling the truth? 

Tough to hear what Lance said about Kristn, his wife and the mother of their 3 children.
"I take full responsibility for saying “I’m out.” 

I struggle with those who conflate honesty with "my truth." In Episode One, he vows "I will tell my truth....my truth as I remember it."  Given that he withheld the truth—his truth/your truth/my truth/.any truth for years—I don't know why I should believe him now. Zenovich asked him, "When you were lying, what was it like looking at yourself in the mirror?" He immediately responded  "No problem. It was no problem. I’m not denying it or defending it, but I’m telling you it was not problem. I was so used to it.  You become so immune to it." I'm considering showing this scene in class for it presents a conscience qualm. What else should we call it? Lance is being honest about his dishonesty.

Some have asked if this program reveals anything new about Armstrong. Why does it need to be told? I suppose because of the tension we can so readily see in Lance is one we most likely have to reconcile in ourselves, too.

Lance says, "Nobody dopes and is honest. You’re not. The only way you can dope and be honest is if nobody ever asks you, which is not realistic. The second somebody asks you? You lie." When I heard that confession, I said "I believe that's true." Minutes later he adds "I could never be honest about this because all this momentum, profitability and goodness would come crashing down." I said "that might be true, but it's not."

The dance of telling the truth/not telling the truth, living the truth/not living the truth in Armstrong is hard to see. For example, after Lance speaks to the Rice University football team where his eldest son Luke (who wears #35, not #48) plays, Zenovich asks "What would you say to your son if he wanted to use PEDs?" he says, "Not now. Not at this level. No. If it’s the NFL that’s another thing, but not now." Perhaps Armstrong is unaware that PEDs are unsanctioned in the NFL. Players are tested regularly, fined and punished for violations, too.

I have often thought that the more I read and learn about great athletes, the more sympathetic I become toward them and their cause. I generally find the good and want to believe in them. However, Lance Armstrong challenges my concern.

One cyclist says  "there are good people who do bad things and bad people who do good things." I agree. His work with the LIVESTRONG foundation and how he spoke openly about testicular cancer—a disease most men were unwilling to address is legion. One respondent said" I truly believe if you are diagnosed with cancer today, your experience is better than it was pre-Lance and pre-Livestrong. Irrefutably better." Thank you Lance.

American cyclist Bobby Julich said, "thirty years of knowing a person, you either love them or hate them. I still can’t decide." The missed opportunities, the selfishness, the lack of respect for teammates, the moratorium on one of the greatest comebacks stories of all time—seven Tour de France trophies in tow—is why "joyful" is not a word I can use to describe this program.

At the beginning of Episode Two, Zenovich uses the same director's cut. She asks,

"Do you feel like you want to be relevant again?"  to which he responds "This is going to sound terrible but I am relevant."

I narrowed my eyes.I asked myself how that is true. Seems like a fitting question....Joy is always relevant. Lying is not.

Photo Credits
Stats page
Lance and Kristin
Winning

AC Green: Iron Virgin, Totally "Other"

Although the NBA stands for the National Basketball Association, the players will tell you otherwise. It's Nothing But Airports. Given that 30 teams play in more or less 28 different cities to play a single game, the NBA knows the friendly skies. Furthermore, the season is long—too long. Regular season games begin in mid-October and here we are, mid-June, still watching, talking, eating, drinking and dreaming hoops. (NB: Given that my Golden State Warriors is still battling for the championship title, I'm not complaining). The grind—the constant travel, hotel rooms, press conferences cannot be easy. 

The toll the NBA life to mind, body and soul must be exhausting. The temptations on the road are many. Given their height and physical stature, it's hard to miss a pro basketball player walking into a restaurant, at the bar, in the club, leaving the lobby, etc. They are ever under a watchful eye. The lifestyle that accompanies being a professional athlete is not a normal one. I suppose it need not be, which makes the story of AC Green: The Iron Virgin that much more compelling.

I showed the ESPN 30 for 30 Short to my seniors without much background or context. We had read "Running for God" an article about Eric Liddell and watched a clip from his bio-pic, Chariots of Fire. Discussion of Liddell, a "Muscular Christian" prompts the question: What athletes today remind you of Eric Liddell? Invariably, students will name Tim Tebow or Bethany Hamilton. AC Green might be a worthy response, if it were 1985. However, his story is so countercultural, his conviction so steadfast, that it is worth sharing today.

Fresh from winning the NBA Championship, AC Green was selected in the first round as the 23rd overall pick in the 1985 draft. The 6'9" power forward out of Oregon State came to the Lakers during the Showtime era. The cars were fast, the women were beautiful and the parties were incessant. Green abstained from all of it.

AC Green was forthright about his decision to not have sex with a woman until marriage. He refrained from drinking alcohol and using drugs. His conviction was strong. He prayed openly and often. Undoubtedly, his faith served as the soul force that drove his decisions and commitment to purity.

Could an athlete be that outspoken about their personal convictions today? I hope so. However, I don't know that he or she could. Ron Rolheiser said it well when he wrote

Purity and any type of chaste hesitancy is, in our world, regarded with a disapproval bordering on disdain. Purity is, for the most part, seen as naiveté, as lack of nerve, as lack of drive for life. To believe in purity, especially sexual purity, is tantamount to believing in Santa and the Easter Bunny.

I don't disagree. However, this perception of the world and of people is what makes A.C. Green such a compelling figure. Not many professional athletes are different in this way off the court. On the court however, Green is replete with nerve. His game is anything but naive. He is fierce. His drive for life is strong. So strong, that he played for 1,192 straight games. Hence the moniker, a clever combo: the Iron Virgin.

Thanks to a trend started by Coach Popovich, who led the San Antonio Spurs into 21-straight postseason appearance, today, it is not uncommon for star players to rest and not play regular season games. I don't think AC Green would have any of this. In Iron Virgin he said "my parents went to work every single day. I don't see why I should not."

I was reminded as I read the latest book by Jonathan Doyle that "the term holiness basically means otherness. God is great other. What God values is so different to what we value at times." The Israelites lived according to this principle of God as Holy. The temple was a place that was totally other. They practiced ritual purity as a way to inculcate holiness for the body and ultimately the soul. It's no stretch to think of A.C. Green as "other." 

Are their athletes today that remind you of Eric Liddell? of A.C. Green? Do we need athletes who are the "other?"

James Worthy said "being able to stay strong and not be broken and to still be able to stick to his guns? That is what stands out the most." Kareem Abdul Jabar adds, "Play for 16 straight years and miss less than 5 games? Who is going to do that again? I love these questions. I love the example set by A.C. Green, both on and off the court. It is one of passion, conviction, principle and otherness.

In 2001, AC Green retired as the Iron Man of the NBA. Shortly after, he got married. Check out the certificate of recognition he got from Jerry West....it's totally other too.

Photo Credits
AC Green: Iron Virgin
Laker Girls
Laker

ESPN's 30 for 30: Seau—Why Watch?

Imagine 

• that you are born with a personality so magnanimous, that you refer those you meet as "buddy." 
• being incredibly photogenic—in part because of your natural beauty, but more-so because your warm and vibrant spirit is so bright.  
• growing up in a family where every one of your five siblings had to work after school and during the summer....but you didn't because your "job" was to play sports.
• being incredibly gifted at three sports—football, basketball, and track and field—but choosing the one you love the least because you know it will serve as a pathway toward financial success, not only for yourself, but for those you love. 
• the honor you bring your tight knit Samoan family by being able to provide enough so that your parents can leave their two bedroom house, in troubled neighborhood. 

• the talent it takes to be named a first ballot NFL Hall of Fame player.
• being drafted in the first round only to return to your hometown to play for your favorite childhood team (in one of the most beautiful cities in the U.S.)
• playing for 20 years as a linebacker—an incredibly demanding defensive position—and being named a 10-time All-Pro, 12-time Pro Bowl selection, and to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team

Now imagine 

• at the age of 40, telling another athlete you have had a headache since the age of 15
• acquiring a condition that decreases your ability to handle adversity in your life,
• suffering in silence and keeping your "game face on" only to have it get the best of you. 
• slowly disappearing from those who love you—losing your zest for life, questioning your identity and knowing how to get help, but not accepting it.
• writing in your journal "The world has nothing for me" even though you have four children who love and adore you as their parent.
• understanding the struggles with depression that your teammates face.
• telling those same teammates there's nothing is insurmountable and "as long as me you'll never be broke...you'll always be loved."
• not being able to take your own advice.

What I have asked you to imagine—both the good and the bad— should not be hard to do. Why? It is the story of Junior Seau. I was eager to watch the "30 for 30" bearing his name because I had questions and I wanted answers. What did I find? Tragedy and no comedy. A lot of complexity and an understanding that CTE was not the only reason Junior Seau died (though a leading factor). I asked my friend Sean to watch it with me, so I could make sense of his story. I was eager to exchange insights on the themes that emerged, the lessons learned, and how we can and should honor Junior Seau's legacy in an appropriate way.

Seau begins with an aerial view of Oceanside, CA—a town on the north side of San Diego County. The director, Kirby Bradley returns to the image of the gentle waves returning to the sandy shores time and again. The contrast of such beauty, allows the viewer to take in and follow Seau's ultimate demise: into alcohol abuse, infidelity, gambling, and depression. Even his own children could not offer him peace: he hit his own son and turned on the lead Chef at his restaurant. Junior Seau died by suicide on May 2, 2012. It was not his first attempt.  

Friends and family knew that surfing in this ocean afforded Seau with a sense of peace and quiet, a place for the spiritual journey each one of takes. His journey ended too quickly. In spite of the struggle, those same fans, friends and family share stories of their love for him, their hopes for his future and how the loss still burns. I asked my good friend Haley, a San Diego native, if she had seen "Seau" yet. She responded in a way that indicated this wound still hurts. I took notice. So, why watch? Why tell the tale? 

ESPN writes "By far Junior Seau was the most famous player to have something like this happen to. It probably would have been voted NFL player least likely to commit suicide during his career." Because of his death we can safely come to one conclusion. No imagination is necessary.

Former NFL player Gary Plummer states "I absolutely would have never sought help were it not been what happened to Junior." It's very possible that Junior's death was a tipping point—THE tipping point: for players, for the NFL and for those of us who love the game. The questions are tough, the answers are many. Is this a resurrection story? No it is not. Is there a lesson that at least one person has learned? Absolutely. And hopefully many more.

Rest in peace, #55.

Photo Credits
Charger Hat
Kneeling
30 for 30
Surfing

The Men and Women of Sports and Spirituality: Who My Students Meet

On the first day class for seniors enrolled in Sports and Spirituality—an elective course for seniors at St. Ignatius, I assure my students that we will not spend six months on this:

In case you can't read this, it says "Sports & Spirituality: Not just athletes pointing to the sky

I love that one of my students had the good humor and understanding to affirm that what we read, discuss and learn is much more than the gestures/rituals we see on display in sports. 

So what then, is the curriculum? What do we study? What are the learning outcomes? I'll leave that for my syllabus and course reader (available upon request). Instead, I would like to honor the men and women my students "meet" as a result of the course work. These are the athletes who make an impression on them for much more than their strength, fitness, achievements, contracts, championships, and so forth. The athletes featured here are the ones my students have singled out as individuals they are "glad to have met." While some stars are familiar to them—Serena Williams and J.J. Watt, others are new—Haley Scott DeMaria and Jake Olson. Meeting them, in this course, however means they are examined in a new way, with a new vision and speaking a new language. The way that Sports and Spirituality asks us to see and speak.

I have articles or video clips posted beneath most photos so you can share in the learning!

Jill Costello: Featured in the SI's 60th Anniversary Issue, The Courage of Jill Costello won an award for "Most Outstanding Story" at the 13th Annual Luce Awards. I was Jill's novice crew coach; she graduated from SI in 2006. She lives on in the memory and hearts of so many.

Jake Olson: I first "met" Jake through "Sports in the News" a presentation that asks students to choose what is happening in the wide world of sports that they want to teach the class and discuss. I have loved following Jake's story and success at USC. There is no shortage of video documenting this man's incredible journey.

James Conner: This year's addition to "Sports in the News" I'm not convinced Conner wasn't on this presenters' fantasy football team. However, this assignment and even mentioning fantasy football is reflective of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm. The IPP is, in short, how teachers are called to teach at Jesuit schools. The very first step is a call for Context: 

• Understand the world of our students, including the ways in which family, friends, social pressures, politics, economies, media and other realities impact them. 
• Love them, love what they love…love what you teach. 

Fantasy Football is a viable way to enter in the world of a high school student. Knowledge of James Conner can only add to that.

JJ Watt: At the conclusion of the course, I ask students who is someone they wish they had "met" in class. Two years ago, one bright and visionary student mentioned JJ Watt. I knew she was right.....and then Hurricane Harvey happened but a few months later. What he did for the people of Houston earned him the title of "The Patron Saint of Houston" as well as Co-Sportsman of the Year. I am not the least bit surprised so many students enjoyed learning more about the Texans Defensive end. Talk about fun to teach...

Bethany Hamilton: I can't quite put my finger on it, but boys and girls—no matter what sport they play—are interested the story of this Soul Surfer. Maybe it's because the movie was released when they were at an impressionable age (2011). Regardless, she is unapologetic for her faith and not one student seems to challenge her words or rebuff her devotion.

Serena and Venus Williams: It is an honor, a privilege and a delight to teach about the Williams sisters. Race, gender, excellence, ascesis, soul force, equality and justice, fashion and flare, sisterhood, motherhood...the list of themes goes on. I use "Venus and Serena," a video recommended by a former student (thank you, Sydney!) and will be showing "Venus vs" in my Ethics class in January.

Haley Scott DeMaria: Our 80-minute class periods begin with what I call "the Silent 10." Students read a Sports and Spirituality book of their choice, in silence for you guessed it, ten minutes. One student picked from my S&S library. I had no idea if "What Though the Odds" would resonate with her, as its the story of a swimmer who experienced hardship and tragedy and found hope and healing through her teammates and the larger Notre Dame family. She was so inspired by DeMaria's message and her story that she said it ought to be required reading for the course. What a gift....and it became one that kept on giving. Haley actually came to SI to speak to my class and followed up our time together with a Skype session. Still amazed that all of that happened....

The Fordson Football Team: A colleague asked in the faculty room just the other day, Where do must Muslims live in the United States. I was able to provide an answer right away, thanks to this documentary. The largest Arabic speaking population can be found in Dearborn, Michigan. Their religious and cultural practices are tightly bound, as evidenced in this documentary. My students love learning about a community that is unfamiliar to them through something  as familiar as....football.

Bo Jackson: The final unit of the course is "Story, Saints and Sportsmen and Sportswomen." One of the essential questions is What is the relationship between story and spirituality? I dare say Bo Jackson is essential to answering this question. After all, the "30 for 30 You Don't Know Bo" is subtitled "The Legend of Bo Jackson." The legend lives on...and looms large.

Eric Liddell: Teaching about the Muscular Christian is a non-negotiable. I have his beautiful words: I believe God made me for a purpose. He made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure and a personal connection to him in my life to thank for the gift of this course. His story, his witness is the gift that keeps on giving.

“We might not have the same gift as others, or the same success,
but we are asked to make an effort with what we have been given.” - Running for God

I am hoping to offer Sports and Spirituality as an evening course for parents in Spring 2019. It is exciting to me to share these life stories with adults and gain from the own collection of beloved athletes, spiritual heroes and saints.

Photo Credits

Beauty and Sadness in Sports and in Spiritual Places Part II: Doc and Darryl...The Sadness

As written in the first part in this series, If Pixar's animated hit "Inside Out" is a story of the how joy and sadness can coexist, the "30 for 30: Doc and Darryl" affirms that beauty and sadness can and do. Ask anyone who has seen the latest in installment in ESPN's documentaries that aim to highlight important people and events in sports history, and I think they will leave you with the impression that "Doc and Darryl" is colored more by sadness than by beauty. However, both truths are worth reflecting upon and learning from. 

The directors, Judd Apatow and Mike Bonfiglio wrote, 

The stories of Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden seem inextricably linked, whether the lives of these two very different men are actually intertwined or not. Both phenoms drafted by the Mets straight out of high school, their parallel meteoric rises in early-1980s New York and the demons that plagued them turned these two superstars and franchise saviors into tabloid fodder and punchlines. We were interested in understanding the men behind the headlines, and what drove them to their spectacular highs and lows. We hope that this film humanizes Doc and Darryl, and in doing so sheds light on issues that we can all relate to in our own lives or the lives of those around us.

The directors succeed. The film does more than humanize these two great athletes. It sheds light onto the beauty and sadness of their success, their life stories and our society. 

In many ways, it is not easy to relate to either athlete. Gooden and Strawberry met great success at a young age in a media saturated and star studded city (Doctor K was 21 and Strawberry was 24 when the Mets won the '86 World Series). Overnight, they were wealthy, and famous as world champions. And yet, the source of sadness in this tale is a universal one. "Doc and Darryl" is a honest and real look at the face of addiction, a disease that does not know age, race, color or creed.

I don't know if it's medically certifiable that some folks have an addictive personality or not, but those who struggle with addiction carry a heavy cross. Addicts don't call it the "monkey on your back" for nothing. Addiction tares lives apart. It ruins marriages, families, and most relationships. For Dwight Gooden and for Darryl Strawberry addiction did that and much more. 

The low point of Gooden's addiction must have been when he missed the World Series parade because of the extent of his usage guised in the name of celebration. For Strawberry, it was a very honest admittance that he let his mother down...and he knew it. But what might be even more heartbreaking is what we never saw—because of Doc and Darryl's addiction to crack, cocaine, and alcohol.

American political satirist, writer, TV host and life long Mets fan, Jon Stewart said, 

I think their legacies will always be….like anything else….any star that didn’t live up to its luster will always be about what could have been. I mean both of those guys should be in Cooperstown. It was like both those guys were made in a laboratory. You want to see the perfect pitcher? It’s Dwight Gooden. You want to see the perfect hitter? It’s Darryl Strawberry.

Other personalities such as their former manager Davey Johnson and baseball writer Tom Verducci weigh in, complimenting Stewart's claim. And then Jon Stewart adds, 

I feel strange being upset that I wasn’t able to witness as much of their greatness as I should have. That’s probably not my heart ache to have…it’s theirs.

If Stewart were to share those poignant words with me personally, I would nod in agreement. It's hard to disagree...and yet I do. 

My fundamental view on professional sports, especially the high profile ones...the sports where the athletes are near celebrities who stand on heroic pedestals (whether they want to or not) is that when our team, our favorite athlete, or our coach succeeds, we all do. When they lose, our hearts break too. In their greatness we applaud them...and in their downfall we cry, and we lose. How can you say it was not the ache of Mets fans...of African American baseball players and fans....or of those who love to see great athletes play a beautiful game? It's both their heart ache and ours.

I think Doc and Darryl is important to watch because it reminds us of an important, though sad truth: Addiction is ever present. Though the viewer will guess that Gooden is still struggling and Strawberry is not, any addict will tell you how dangerous it is to think that addiction is a thing of the past. The narrator says,

It’s right behind Darryl, It’s right behind Doc. Maybe one day one succeeding more than the other. What’s the truth of it? I just know that D&D are tied in OUR Minds…and not in theirs…….

We are all called to live every day, one moment at a time. For addicts in particular there is no other way to live. 

I don't necessarily think that is a sad truth. I think it might even be a beautiful way to live. And the next posting will address that beauty and more, as seen in "Doc and Darryl"

Photo Credits
SI Cover
Doc and Darryl
Today