By John
Nothdurft
Thursday, October 4th, 2001
After a number of years recovering from Hotchkins' disease, Mario Lemieux
finally returned to the hockey rink not too long ago to help lead the Pittsburgh
Penguins to the playoffs. After a tremendous career, Lemieux decided that
coming back would help the team more than it would hurt his reputation
personally, if things were to go bad.
As the end of this past MVP-like season rolled around, fans realized that
Mario had yet to lose much of that golden touch that he had as that superstar
from the early '90s.
Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest boxers of all time. He flew like a
butterfly, and stung like a bee. That is, until he un-retired and came back
to the ring. Ali retired in 1979, but he came out of retirement in 1980 to
challenge Larry Holmes, who had taken the title. He lost to Holmes and then
lost to Trevor Berbick in 1981 before retiring for good.
Some people have what it takes in them to come back to superstardom in sports
after a semi-lengthy retirement. Others don't. This debate is a heavy one
right now with Michael Jordan.
In the last decade, Jordan has won six NBA titles with the Bulls, as well
as numerous awards and MVP honors. A good number of them came after
he un-retired the first time (coming back from the retirement surrounding
his fathers' death). Did anybody care that Jordan wanted to un-retire then?
No. Why should those same people care now? Is it because he's now 38?
Some people say that Michael Jordan's image will be destroyed if he doesn't
lead the Wizards to the championship this year or next. Why not go out on
top and have people remember that last second jumper over Byron Russell?
Sports figures, especially legendary ones like Jordan, are not just remembered
for their last second memories. Jordan made a career of destroying opposing
teams on both ends of the floor. I hope that nobody forgets that his great
career has gone on longer than just the past couple years.
If you want to see a miracle happen, it's not Jordan winning another
championship; it's Jordan leading that horrible squad down in Washington
to a playoff birth. After ripping out the core of the Wizards over the last
couple years, Jordan is ready to take an on-the-court teaching style with
his fiery youngsters.
Michael may not be the Michael Jordan of yesterday, but don't tell him that
when he lights your team up for 60 points this year. If you want to worry
about somebody playing well past their prime, talk to Patrick Ewing, not
His Airness.
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