Leadership from the sporting crowd

                   “Where Have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?”

              Over the years, I have watched several prominent politicians refer to America as “That shining city on the hill.” The quote is apt. To much of the world, we are a hope and a vision of equality and plenty, qualities that they can only dream of for themselves and their children.

              In light of the recent mass shootings in America, I begin to wonder how sincere our national leaders are in securing the safety and the future of this noble “shining city on the hill.” In the face of a horrific mass murder of children, in Texas, we get platitudes and a “what are you gonna do” shrug. When ten everyday-people were murdered in a super market in Buffalo, New York, we got platitudes and loud and public expression of sorrow. Most of our national leadership ran from the media and refused comment. They offer silly sayings about “improving our national health measures” and “arming teachers in our schools with pistols.” They are more concerned with the outcome of the coming mid-term elections in Congress than they are with the safety of our children in schools and our citizenry in their daily commerce.

           Surprisingly, some of our much-needed emotional leadership is coming from the field of sport. One coach, of an NBA team, railed at our leaders in an on air press conference, for not tackling the whole anti-gun control lobby. His impassioned speech makes you understand what leadership is all about. In times of tragedy, you don’t offer platitudes, you don’t speak of bizarre comparisons that have no meaning. You stand up like this man did and call out the cowards for their moral timidity. You point the finger at them, like the courageous author Emile Zola, and say emphatically “Je accuse.” ( I accuse you). Perhaps, on a larger level, if all the well-known stars of our sporting teams issued similar declarations, the vacillators in Washington might start to listen. Not because of the moral probity advised, but because they fear how much of the voting populace can be swayed by these much-admired American leaders.

             “Win one for the Gip,” a Notre Dame Football Coach Knute Rockne quote, is an inspirational prod often cited by former President Ronald Reagan. He used it often, to inspire his political forces, when “the lads were up against it.” The opening speech, by George C. Scott in the movie “Patton,” stirred the fighting blood of an entire nation. Marine General “Chesty Puller,” Army “Sergeant Alvin York,” Naval aviator and U.S. Senator John McCain and dozens of other military leaders led an entire nation in our darkest hours. We need men and women like these, who will stand up to the forces of iniquity, people who put their nation first and their personal success a distant second. And if it is our sporting fraternity/sorority  that provides these men and women, who will lead us during our dark hour, then the rest of us should take note and encourage these men and women, citing them  for their integrity and personal courage. Perhaps it is time that “Main Street” took over the nation’s leadership from the inside the beltway crowd in Washington.

                                             -30-

                                       (539 words)

                                    Joseph Xavier Martin