Witness to excellence

I noticed this little item in the Chicago Tribune Sports section the other day and meant to say something about it. This town has two MLB teams leading their divisions, Sox have been exciting and the Cubs…..well, it’s been a century long drought, and now they’re doing so well the sports brain trust is talking way too much about this being their year to go…..I’m not going to say it.

So between that, NASCAR arriving in a nearby town and all the other big news, the sports pages are loaded and lively. This gem made front page, and it deserved it.

The hill on the third hole of the TPC at Deere Run is imposingly steep. The slope could leave a person in good condition gasping for breath.

D.J. Gregory, who has cerebral palsy, took one look and said, “No problem.”

With his right hand, Gregory tapped his cane on the ground and began his climb. When he got to the top, he had proved himself right. No problem.

Gregory, 30, has been conquering every hill on the PGA Tour this year as part of a journey that has him walking each round of all 44 tournaments in 2008.

Each week he follows a player and then writes about him in his blog at pgatour.com. The John Deere Classic is his 28th event, and he’s walking with Peter Lonard.

A self-described avid sports fan and golf nut, Gregory, with the help of CBS’ Jim Nantz, approached the PGA Tour last year to explain his dream of attending and walking at every 2008 tournament. His initial motivation was to watch a ton of golf and get to know the players as real people.

The mission now has evolved into much more. He has become a symbol, an inspiration, showing what somebody with cerebral palsy can do.

“If these are the cards I’m dealt, then these are the cards I’ll play to the best of my ability,” he said.

What amazing grace.

Speaking of grace and dignity and excellence…..I also meant to publicly appreciate the magnificent match at Wimbledon, the epic saga between Federer and Nadal that will linger as the best in history. Never say never, but I doubt there will ever be a championship match as stunningly perfect as that, ever again.

It was the cover story of Sports Illustrated this week, and SI writer Jon Wertheim was willing to go on record with that call, too.

I generally try not to get caught up in the Superlatives Sweepstakes. But I’m going unequivocal on this one: the 2008 Wimbledon men’s final was THE greatest match of all-time. Period. You had an impossibly rich — Shakespearean, even — subtext. You had two gentlemen. A dazzling rivalry.

You don’t have to be a big tennis fan to appreciate that match. The sheer excellence of the human performance and behavior was inspiring.

Emotions ran high and with good reason. But let’s all pull back and just consider ourselves thankful for a moment. Thankful to have been treated to such a mesmerizing match and to have such an exhilarating rivalry in our midst. My strong suspicion is that neither Federer nor Nadal is done winning. So pick a side. Or pick both sides. But try and keep in mind how fortunate we are for them both.

With each game of the match….or each stroke of each game….I thought it a shame that one of these men had to ‘lose’, and Federer barely did. But his gracious deference to Nadal was matched only by Nadal’s humble deference to Federer, and everyone witnessing it was elevated.

It was more than a tennis championship. It was a lesson from champions.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *