LARGETONY Blog

Now, hold on. I know what you’re thinking: “This is one of those posts where Tony starts getting a chub about sports.” Don’t worry. I’m not going to go on and on about how Tennessee’s men’s basketball team (which for most of my thirty years has been a disappointment and embarrassment) has come out of nowhere this season to win the conference division title. I’m not going to go on and on about how they beat high ranked teams when no one thought they stood a chance. I’m not going to go on and on about how they also are ranked in the top ten. I’m not going to go on and on about how they are going to make it into the NCAA tournaments. I’m not even going to mention that all this has happened in the first year of a new coach who was basically handed someone else’s roster. In fact, I won’t even talk about the irony of Tennessee’s men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and baseball teams all currently enjoying high national rankings in the same season that our marquee team (football) did a free fall off the collegiate map (when they were predicted to finish in the top 5). No. I won’t mention any of that.

I will be honest and say that this post does deal with basketball (therefore the hot torso picture to lure you in), but basketball is only the framework. It’s really a story about the good guy.

As much as you hear about sportsmanship and teamwork in athletics, it’s rarely a selfless thing. Jocks are, by nature, self-centered assholes. They’re progammed to be that way. I ought to know, I was one. You have to have a “me” mentality to be a winner. Even in team sports. Sure, you may be helping a team mate win, but that means you win, too. Hardly a sacrifice. Look at those two speed skaters in the recent Olympics. One refused to skate in a team event so that he could focus on his individual events and the other got pissed. But was he pissed because it was unsportsmanlike? No. He was pissed because it would blow his chances of winning another gold medal. See, what I mean? Both selfish. Different reasons, but both selfish.

So, it was great to hear the story of a young man named Jason McElwain, a seventeen year old New York high school student who loves basketball. Jason is autistic and due to his special needs and his size he was unable to play on his school team. But his coach recognized the love the kid had for the game and his overwhelming desire to just be around it, so the coach made him a team manager.

But as time came around for the final home game of his senior year, the coach decided to pay Jason back for his dedication to the team by letting him suit up in uniform and sit on the bench. The coach told Jason that maybe he could even get in the game, but was making no promises. That didn’t matter to the kid one bit. It just meant the world to him just to be able to put on a uniform like the other guys.

As it turned out, within a few minutes left in the game, the coach let Jason on the floor. The kid was experiencing more than he ever dreamed. He managed to get a shot off and it was total air (i.e. nowhere near the hoop or the net). But then Jason got another shot (from 3-point range, no less) and in it went. How incredible was that? He gets to suit up, he gets in the game, he even gets a shot, and it goes in for three points! The whole gym went nuts and Jason heart just soared. But then he got another 3-pointer in. Then another. Then another. Another. And another. Buy the final buzzer, Jason had dropped six (!) three-pointers and a two-pointer for a total of twenty points. His team, the cheerleaders, and student body rushed the floor and hoisted him onto their shoulders. Everybody was all about him. Nobody gave a shit about the win. They were totally focused on this incredible kid.

For my money, though, the real story is the coach, Jim Johnson. This man’s level of selflessness knows no boundaries. This is a man who coaches for his students, not for the game. He knew how special it would be for Jason to just be a part of the basketball program, doing anything. So he found a place for him, doing a job he could handle and feel good about. How many coaches would do that for any kid, let alone one with special needs? And just the fact that he didn’t just stop there. He saw another opportunity for Jason, and let him take it.

SEE THE VIDEO

I’m practically choking up just thinking about it. I wish I could have been there to see it. Yeah, I’m a sucker for the feel good story. I love shit like this. So sue me. In general, I can be pretty cynical (it’s a defense mechanism) so when something this extraordinary comes along, it punches a hole in me and all those emotions that I keep locked up come pouring out. I know that no matter what else ever happens to this kid, he will forever be able to look back on that moment as probably the greatest in his life.

Hopefully everybody will have one moment in their life they can look at as being extraordinary. Sort of like the season Tennessee’s men’s basketball has had. But I’m not going to bring that up.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 2nd, 2006 at 11:28 pm and is filed under basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.