Sunday, May 03, 2009
Sports, "Hunt's Grunts"

Finding inspiration in bumpy times

Some of the most notorious pandemics of all time...

Hola, mi amigos. Just in time for corporate America's desire to make millions off the Latino consumer market while perpetuating damaging stereotypes, and its refusal to educate the American public about the historical significance of Cinco de Mayo, here comes Mexico's own swine flu. And what a shock, it crossed the border.

So what have been some of the most notorious pandemics of all time? There's the Plague of Athens in 430 B.C., the Black Death of the 14th century, and of course, the 2007 Atlanta Falcons starring Michael Vick and Bobby Petrino. But the reality is that as of last week there had been more than 150 confirmed deaths from the infection. Not trying to be alarmist here (the Spanish flu of 1918-20 did kill between 20 and 100 million worldwide), but you just never know what's going to happen next. Case in point: It's May, and as I write this, the Atlanta Hawks are still playing basketball (but probably not for long).

It took a pandemic, one that saw at least two states (Texas and Alabama) postpone all athletic and academic competitions for public schools until next week at the earliest, to bump the continuing recession below the fold. Although said economic downturn continues to force many careers to fold too early. Last week, Baltimore Sun sportswriters Rick Maese and David Steele went to Camden Yards to cover the Angels-Orioles game, only to get a phone call in the eighth inning informing them they no longer had jobs. Talk about getting yanked from the game!

According to the latest government figures, 2 million jobs were lost in the first three months of 2009, and it's predicted that between 600,000 and 700,000 more will have been lost in April. Those doing the laying off most likely can't feel much better (or more secure) than the ones to whom they're handing out pink slips. There's some real Freddy Brown the Real Down Clown times going on out there in Struggle Bunny, U.S.A.—that is, unless you encounter a Billy Goat Smurf still smurfalating about the Tar Heels’ national championship.

And there's been joy in Storrs, Conn., where Maya Moore, formerly of Atlanta's Collins Hill High, won the Naismith Trophy as the country's best women's basketball player, leading UConn to a 39-0 record and a national championship. Moore and the Huskies visited the White House last week and shot baskets with President Barack Obama. Viva la Maya! 

A couple of days later, UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma, a complicated man with an outsize personality that gains him fans and detractors alike, was the featured guest of the Jewish Federation at Greater Hartford's annual Visions men's fundraising dinner at Emmanuel Synagogue. L'Chayim!

Good times were reportedly had by all, and in addition to comparing the similarities of Italians and those of Jewish faith, Auriemma addressed the proper approach in trying times, saying, "So you understand that the best time to attack something is when other people are laying low, when other people are not as confident. I think that's the best time when you step out and prove yourself.''

I like that. This is the time to step up, when others won't or can't. Make a decision and make it happen, because you never know what's going to happen next. You think major league catcher Corky Miller gave up after going 5-for-60 (.083) last year before the Braves finally let him go last August? No way. As a non-roster invitee, he made the White Sox this spring and finished the first month with four hits. Last year he made the wretched Atlanta catching careers of Jody Davis, Rick Cerone and Ozzie Virgil all appear Hall of Fame-worthy, and now he has almost as many hits as he had in all of 2008. That's got to count for something, right? Viva el Corky!

Happy times ... and here's a history lesson for you: Cinco de Mayo marks the anniversary of the country's defeat of the invading French in 1862. SP