Sunday, October 05, 2008
Quick, Sports, "Hunt's Grunts"

Achieving immortality

Immortality. Who has it? Who wants it? What is it?

By Hunt Archbold

Immortality. Who has it? Who wants it? What is it? Jack White’s aura on the Tabernacle stage last week made it seem as if he has it. What about Michael Vick? How will he be viewed this time next year when he’s quarterbacking for some team like the division-rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers? If enduring fame is used as the definition for immortality, then White, Vick and an endless number of others have achieved it.

And there are more to come with this week’s naming of the Nobel Prize winners. Yes, some chemists, physicists and economists you’ve never heard of, but whose work is changing our lives, will finally get their due. And what about the man himself—Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist, inventory of dynamite and eventual pacifist who bequeathed the equivalent of $121.6 billion to establish the prizes? It was costly, but he bought himself a posthumous legacy for sure.

What will be the lasting legacy of the Atlanta Thrashers, who begin their eighth season this week still in search of the franchise’s first playoff victory? Considering that last season they were the NHL team that allowed the most shots on goal while also taking the fewest, the new season forecast is rather murky. So really, how long can this city expect the Thrashers to survive? Yes, they have a passionate core fan base, but they are, in essence, a money-losing franchise that survives only because their pro-team brethren, the Hawks, who began training camp last week in quest of their first winning season in 10, receive some really nice NBA TV money. Oh, and more importantly, because when those teams aren’t playing before half-filled seats, Philips Arena is making the Atlanta Spirit its real cash as one of the top-grossing venues in the world.

And what will become of Atlanta’s other feathered folly, the Falcons? There’ve been some nice storylines following the nightmare that was the 2007 season, but a Forbes.com story recently valued Arthur Blank’s team just 29th in the league, ahead of only the 49ers, Raiders and Vikings. Of course, that value was $872 million, or about $317 million more than what Blank paid for them six years ago. But the reality is that the Birds dwell near the bottom of the league’s revenue standings primarily because of an onerous lease where the state gets a significant share of Georgia Dome revenues. The facility was the prime reason the Falcons didn’t bolt to Jacksonville, Fla., in the late ’80s, but until Blank can get them out of it and into an opened-air stadium, the Falcons will always rank near the bottom of the league’s financial rankings.

But do you really care? Truthfully, this has been a gilded age for sports and its power elite, with new stadiums popping up everywhere featuring luxury suites and high ticket costs that have priced middle-class fans out of most seats. But the times they are a-changing. The financial service industry, the same business estimated to sink more than $10 billion into sports sponsorships annually, is hurting big time these days. Those institutions will have to keep a closer eye on the deals they sign, as there will be budget cuts.

But everyone is cutting back, as this current credit crisis has the country waking up after a troubling period of greed. It’s frustrating to watch CEOs walk away with millions of dollars in platinum parachutes after destroying their firms. What immortality have those individuals achieved? Sure, they’re greedy, but our government gave them the rulebook, and millions of Americans indulged their own greed in buying homes they could not afford.

The local gas shortage problem has certainly been an inconvenience. But in light of the natural disasters that helped cause it, there’s not much room to complain. Did you take time to see the pictures of the southeastern portion of Texas after Hurricane Ike? Its damages are an estimated $27 billion. I have an old high school friend and teammate who lives and works in the Houston area. He and his family were evacuated, and he says their area was hit hard, but overall they were fortunate.

Forced temporarily from his home, he returned to his alma mater, the United States Military Academy, where he once was captain of the baseball team, to catch a game at Michie Stadium, which might be the best place in America to watch a college football game. But Shane Kimbrough doesn’t play football or baseball anymore, and he’s more than a captain. In fact, he’s now known as Lieutenant Colonel Robert S. Kimbrough, and he’s a mission specialist and a part of the crew of STS-126.

That’s right, the crafty southpaw with the nasty curve is going into space next month on Endeavour, and that has to come with some level of immortality. But more that, he’s a father, a husband, a son and a servant—and he’s pretty good at all of it. Plus, he’s got his picture on Wikipedia to boot.

Happy times … and Shane, do astronauts still drink Tang? SP