Originally Posted By DAR Not through scoring a touchdown or hitting a home run but in more important ways. Read on: Updated: Dec. 7, 2006, 11:03 AM ET Courage award: One will win, all are winners By Gene Wojciechowski ESPN.com The most gut-wrenching, impossible-to-fill-out awards ballot in sports doesn't have anything to do with this year's Baseball Hall of Fame vote. Seriously -- Mark McGwire or no Mark McGwire? What's so hard about that? I can chug a frosty in less time than it would take to ignore the name of Mr. I'm-Not-Here-To-Talk-About-The-Past. OK, then, how about the Heisman Trophy ballot? That's always a toughie because -- aw, what's the use? Everybody knows Ohio State's Troy Smith is going to win the thing. Smith could have picked out his acceptance suit and tie a month ago. NFL MVP? I've got two letters for you: L and T. PGA Tour Player of the Year? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Tiger. Division I-A Coach of the Year? It has to be Wake Forest's Jim Grobe, Rutgers' Greg Schiano or Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, right? No, without a doubt, the hardest ballot I've ever had to complete was the one I sent in a few days ago: The FedEx Orange Bowl/Football Writers Association of America Courage Award. Courage is a word that has lost some of its muscle tone when it comes to sports. Courage is often mistaken for a holed bunker shot in an FBR Open playoff, or a one-handed catch moments before safety John Lynch arrives, or a decision to go for two points in the first overtime. Those are admirable moments, but to describe them as courageous is to cheapen the word. Real courage has more to do with the soul than the stats. It is about the simple, honorable act of trying to overcome an adversity that would otherwise render most of us into puddles of tears. It is about something as elemental as the human spirit. Oklahoma State cornerback Martel Van Zant was born without ear drums, the result of his mother's contracting chicken pox during the pregnancy. Van Zant can't hear, but he can hit. He had 60 tackles this season, two interceptions, five pass deflections, one forced fumble ... and about a zillion admirers. <<i>see link below</i>> <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=2689319" target="_blank">http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=2689319</a>
Originally Posted By Fe Maiden I remember reading about the players from Clemson and Oklahoma in SI earlier in the year. They would certainly get my support. In fact I recall the Temple football team donating all of their food/travel money to McElrathbey's fund when they traveled to play Clemson this past season. <<Remember your second year of college? Classes ... keggers ... and obtaining legal custody of your 11-year-old brother because your mother suffers from a cocaine addiction and your father has a gambling problem? Welcome to Ray Ray McElrathbey's life. McElrathbey, a Clemson redshirt freshman defensive back, is 19 going on Man of the Family. But with the establishment of an NCAA-approved trust fund to help with expenses, Ray Ray cares for Fahmarr, and does so without complaint. >> <<Oklahoma defensive tackle Carl Pendleton knows the feeling. While his parents deal with the collateral damage of a difficult divorce, Pendleton is the legal guardian of his 10-year-old brother, Kierstan. The experience has so affected him that Pendleton will forego his senior year of eligibility to concentrate on raising his brother. Raising his own grades will be more of a problem -- Carl already has a 3.86 GPA in sociology, minors in religious studies and recently earned an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. And, oh, yeah: He teaches Sunday school. Slacker.>>
Originally Posted By onlyme Yea,,,,,,some great stories there. Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, those types of people are often overlooked and replaced with the ridiculous antics of athletes like T.O. And, in my opinion, it's the media's fault.
