As we draw close to Jackie Robinson Day I decided to take time in my blog to reflect upon those athletes who, like Jackie Robinson, transcended sports. But before I get to all of that I have to get something off my chest which has been bothering me the last few days as I watch the nit-wits on ESPN pontificate upon the subject of Don Imis and the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team. To start with it is obvious that Don Imis is a racist, a bigot and someone who enjoys saying such things for shock value. The thing that has bothered me however is the fact that everyone on ESPN keeps saying "the Rutger's Team has come off looking good in all of this by proving that they aren't 'nappy headed ho's' by showing that they get good grades and are well spoken valedictorians." Do you see what bothers me? Let me continue to clarify. Last time I checked in the United States you are innocent until proven guilty, yet the way the pundits on ESPN talk you would think all women must prove that they are not what Don Imis said. The statement is so utterly racist and bigoted you should not have to provide documents proving that you are a valedictorian to discredit Don Imis' aspersions upon your character.
Now, back to my original reason for writing this article: athletes who transcended sports. In my mind the athletes who transcended sports are as follows:
Muhammad Ali
For obvious reasons Muhammad Ali transcended sports when he refused induction into the US Army. This is the reason I think that Ali is most loved and hated for, some to this day have a problem with Ali refusing to serve but as he said at the time "I ain't got no qu
arrel with those Vietcong no Vietcong ever called me nigger." and who can argue with that. In 1996 Sports Illustrated did a poll of the world to find out who was the most recognizable figure in sports and over 20 years after the day he retired from boxing he was still the most recognizable figure getting over 65% of the vote and Michael Jordan who after all was wining his 6Th championship got less then 25% of the vote. Muhammad Ali was not just a sports figure he was a world figure.Pelé
O Rei Pelé or The King Pelé. Pelé is hailed as a national hero in Brazil and is a hero to all the poor of the world. Pelé was officially declared the fo
otball ambassador of the world by FIFA and a national treasure by the Brazilian government. Pelé was not just one of the best soccer players of all time he was a player who did and does his best to make the world a better place to live. When a war was going on in South America both sides decided that they would stop fighting to watch Pelé play. This has turned in to the saying " soccer stops wars" but if the saying was true it would be "O Rei Pelé stops wars"
Jesse Owens
Owens was the grandson of a slave and the son of a sharecropper. He was often sick with what his mother reportedly called "the devil's cold". He was given the name Jesse by a teacher in Cleveland who did not understand his accent when the young boy said he was called J.C. Owens first came to national attention when, as a student of East Technical High School in Cleveland, Ohio, he tied the world record of 9.4 seconds in the 100-yard dash and long-jumped 24 feet 9 1/2 inches (7.56 m) at the 1933 National High School Championship in Chicago. What made Jesse Owens the man that was loved by the world was not that he could run fast or jump far but that he did it at Adolf Hitler's Berlin Olympics and that Adolf Hitler had to sit and watch as Owens won every event that he entered over the German athletes all of whom were of the Aryan race that Hitler believed to be superior. The look on Hitlers face when Jesse won transcended sports.
otball ambassador of the world by FIFA and a national treasure by the Brazilian government. Pelé was not just one of the best soccer players of all time he was a player who did and does his best to make the world a better place to live. When a war was going on in South America both sides decided that they would stop fighting to watch Pelé play. This has turned in to the saying " soccer stops wars" but if the saying was true it would be "O Rei Pelé stops wars"Jesse OwensOwens was the grandson of a slave and the son of a sharecropper. He was often sick with what his mother reportedly called "the devil's cold". He was given the name Jesse by a teacher in Cleveland who did not understand his accent when the young boy said he was called J.C. Owens first came to national attention when, as a student of East Technical High School in Cleveland, Ohio, he tied the world record of 9.4 seconds in the 100-yard dash and long-jumped 24 feet 9 1/2 inches (7.56 m) at the 1933 National High School Championship in Chicago. What made Jesse Owens the man that was loved by the world was not that he could run fast or jump far but that he did it at Adolf Hitler's Berlin Olympics and that Adolf Hitler had to sit and watch as Owens won every event that he entered over the German athletes all of whom were of the Aryan race that Hitler believed to be superior. The look on Hitlers face when Jesse won transcended sports.
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