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Rowe: Grandpa explains it better than McGwire

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By Kermit Rowe and Staff Writer
11:03 PM Saturday, January 16, 2010

A letter came across my desk this week that caught my eye.

It was an open letter from a grandpa of eight, several he described as “school-aged sports enthusiasts.” He said he wanted to help them “keep things in perspective” as the headlines about the bad boys of sports grow more and more saddening and sickening.

They couldn’t get much more of both than on Monday, Jan. 11, when home run legend Mark McGwire publicly and said something like this: Oh, by the way, you know the last decade when he wouldn’t, even under oath, tell Congress whether or not he did steroids? Well, never mind. He’s not getting much love from the hall-of-fame voters, so now he’s going try something different and tell the truth.

McGwire’s “confession” prompted Grandpa to write his letter, which compared two stories he had heard on the radio that day:

One story was about a man who made millions of dollars playing a game. The other was about a woman who lived in a time when millions of people were killed by the Nazis in World War II.

One took “performance-enhancing” steroids so he could play better, make more money and be famous. The other took a personal risk, just to make others’ lives better.

One hit 70 home runs during a six-month baseball season. The other hid a family from the Nazis for two years during the war.

Then he tells how both stories ended:

One in the failure of a man who broke the rules to attract attention to himself. The other in the success of a woman who drew attention, not to herself, but to a courageous young girl who only wanted to keep living.

The woman who protected the young girl (Anne Frank) and her family died Monday at age 100.

The first story is about McGwire. The other is about wartime hero Miep Gies, who took care of others in a time of extreme danger and hardship. One lied; the other died.

“You should try to learn a lot more about them” grandpa told his kids about Gies and Frank. He then offered advice on how to be a hero:

First, be the best you can be at everything you do, without seeking a lot of attention. Next, you can help others to be the best they can be, and then recognize their accomplishments. Finally, you can do all that without breaking the rules.

What a novel idea! Develop character, toss in some morals and determination, and top it off for love for mankind.

“You won’t need ‘performance enhancers’ to be successful,” Grandpa wrote. “Your self-respect and the knowledge that you are helping others who are less fortunate will be all you need to enhance your performance in life.”

This grandpa probably knows more about how to become a hero than most image consultants, sports agents and dare we say ... even coaches.

And this grandpa ought to know heroes when he sees one. One of his grandchildren is autistic and lives triumphantly each day.

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His letter gives us hope. http://www.amerisleep.com/accessori...

Susan
12:07 AM, 8/30/2010

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We can help others to be the best they can be, and then recognize their accomplishments. Finally, we can do all that without breaking the rules.

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Volin
3:36 AM, 7/20/2010

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