One Wonders, "Why Hasn't ESPN Picked Up On This?"
by Richard Pittman on Jun 17, 2008 10:03 PM CDT
in Baseball
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PrintIt seems like exactly the sort of human interest story ESPN eats for breakfast and then has leftovers of for lunch. After LSU's 9-7 win against UC-Irvine, 55-year old Curt McCarty died suddenly at Alex Box Stadium, leaving a wife and at least one son, Logan. Logan was at the game with his father.
Via Senator's Forum, a blog I don't entirely understand, I was pointed to this story , detailing how various Baton Rouge-area businesses, the LSU baseball team, and the Tiger Athletic Foundation made sure that Curt McCarty's final dream came true: the dream of taking his son Logan to Omaha to see LSU play.
"Really sad week, probably the worst week of my life. And then, it turned out to be one of the happiest." It's the happiest because on the same day that Logan buried his father, he got a call from LSU infielder Buzzie Haydel asking him to join the team in Omaha in memory of his father. "Well, what you think about that? Is that alright? You alright Log?" Haydel asked. "That's pretty awesome! Hasn't sunk in yet. I guess it will once I get there," Logan says. ... He says there's nowhere else he would rather be than on the field with LSU, with his dad smiling down on him on Father's Day and with his mom cheering on his father's team.
I don't want to gush about LSU, TAF, TigerMania, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car making everything better, because frankly whenever Logan returns home he will still be a teenage kid who just lost his father. No amount of baseball will cure that. However, it's still a great story. He not only gets to see his favorite team on the biggest stage, but he gets to honor his father while doing it.
Lots of men and boys, myself included, have over the years bonded with their fathers over a mutual love of a particular sports team. My father loves the Yankees and the Celtics. I was always a Lakers and anyone-but-the-Yankees fan. But we both love LSU, and have all my life. To this day, it's probably the most frequent topic of conversation between us. Well, that and his newest grandchild who, as I type this (at 10:00pm), is refusing to sleep.
In a world where sports is mostly just a glorified distraction from the really important things, one of the few genuinely positive impacts of sports is that it brings people together, both within families and outside of families. James Carville and RightWingAnti-Media both agree that LSU is awesome. If they were to talk about any other topic of conversation, there would probably be a fight.
I'm happy for Logan. He gets a great time, and what is essentially the world's most awesome funeral for his father.
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you're right
it is an excellent story…. and I don’t understand that blog either. :)
Speaking as someone who lost his father at age 12, never got the chance to bond over a sports team, and someone who’s raising three of my own – you’re right that the kid will return home and face reality – but at least that has been put off by the joy of knowing that his father is still there with him in spirit right now.
When you’re young there can be a tendency to be a lot of anger about how unfair life is that this has happened. I don’t mean to drag it on, but it is a time at which a family can potentially be torn apart – and if this is something positive that the kid can take forward, then it’s a good thing. A really good thing.
Too bad about those Lakers…. ha! Not really!
Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!
Don't worry about me and the Lakers
The NBA and I went through an ugly divorce about a decade ago. I no longer give a crap about the Lakers or the Celtics. In fact, I was actually kind of hoping the Celtics would win because I kind of like Kevin Garnett and I kind of don’t like Kobe Bryant.
Richard Pittman
by Richard Pittman on Jun 18, 2008 5:57 AM CDT up reply actions
Dads
I lost my dad almost 10 years ago (in two months, it’ll be the 10-year anniversary). He played for LSU ‘s baseball team (and Georgia Tech – he transferred to LSU) back in the 50’s, and even got paid to play baseball after graduation, though at a very low level and not for very long. So that explains a lot of my love of both LSU and baseball right there.
He was always stunned by the level of support the Gorilla Ball Era Tigers got, considering his teams were lucky to get 20 people. He also loved the style of those teams – just hit mammoth home runs. Bunting is for losers. I always think of him when LSU makes the CWS and I always regret we never made the trip to Omaha together. He would have liked it.
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# - SEC Tournament Seeding
Team Name = Eliminated from SEC Tournament
| West | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
2 LSU Tigers  |
17 | 10 | 40 | 13 |
| 5 Mississippi Rebels |
14 | 13 | 34 | 19 |
| 7 Arkansas Razorbacks |
13 | 14 | 36 | 17 |
| 8 Mississippi St. Bulldogs |
13 | 14 | 31 | 21 |
| 10 Auburn Tigers |
12 | 15 | 29 | 24 |
| |
7 | 20 | 19 | 33 |
| East | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
| 1 Kentucky Wildcats |
18 | 9 | 41 | 12 |
| 3 South Carolina Gamecocks |
17 | 9 | 38 | 13 |
| 4 Florida Gators |
16 | 11 | 38 | 15 |
| 6 Georgia Bulldogs |
13 | 13 | 30 | 22 |
| 9 Vanderbilt Commodores |
13 | 14 | 26 | 25 |
|
8 | 19 | 24 | 28 |
