In his 2002 autobiographical movie 8 Mile, rapper Eminem posed a question.
If you had one shot, one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted, in
one moment, could you capture it?
Baseball player Rick Monday captured the moment and more, 30 years ago
today.
On April 25th, 1976 the Chicago Cubs center fielder rescued the American
flag moments before it was to be burned by two protesters who stormed the field
in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Running from center field, Monday, a former Marine Reserve,
intercepted the flag from the two men who were only seconds away from igniting
the cloth. He left them there empty handed looking like two teenagers in
disbelief who had the phone number for Paris Hilton just fall out their
hands into the Grand Canyon.
The history of sports is littered with athletes who fail or succeed under
pressure. Big games make and break careers and lives can be changed by
how a person reacts. Sometimes an incident in a sporting event can define
a person beyond the sidelines. Just ask Roberto Alomar, who snapped and
spit on Umpire John Hirschbeck in 1996.
Ask anyone about Alomar and most will remember him more for his saliva than
his clutch hits.
Adam Vinatieri is known for being cool under pressure, the same with Michael
Jordan, Derek Jeter, Magic Johnson, Kerri Strug, and Larry Bird, The list of
players who performed under pressure during a game can go on longer than the
final two minutes of an NBA game.
If you are prepared, how you perform can also solidify you as a great person
and not just an athlete.
Today on the anniversary of the event, Monday was interviewed on ESPN radio
in Los Angeles.If like me, you were
lucky enough to hear the hosts recap the incident, (complete with the radio play-by-play
by Vin Scully) you would come away remembering Rick Monday not as a baseball
player, but a Patriot who stood up for something that was right and what he
believed in.
Monday has received various sorts of praise for his act, complete with
awards, plaques, admiration and in 1976 the Chicago Cubs presented him with the
actual flag from the incident.
Recently, the baseball Hall of Fame named the quick thinking act of Monday
one of the top 100 events in baseball history. It may be a top performance in baseball, but it was more than that, it was a top performance from an athlete who made a life changing decision in a split second.
In 2003, Eminem walked away with the Oscar for best song in a movie.30 years ago, Rick Monday waked away with
the respect of Americans.
I run 20 miles with a backpack each morning to the local orphanage where I unload clothing I've collected from donations throughout my community.
I then teach Spanish, French, German and a little bit of Hungarian language lessons to the many kids who have nicknamed me "El Guapo".
After lunch, I drive to the hospital down the street and administer brain surgery on needy patients from thirld world countries. I only take half of the payment from them and donate the rest to the school in Africa I helped build with Oprah.
In my spare time I like to play soccer with my 14 adopted children and then read bedtime stories to them each night where I pick out a certain book for each child and read it to completion. My wife says I'm a lazy liar, but she's only half right.
