Feel Good Feeling

This summer has been pretty rough for sports fans—doping, cheating, arrests, blah, blah, blah.  But just when you think that sport might be hopeless, check out video of the 12 year old in last night’s Little League World Series.  This kid, from rural Georgia, had a moment he will never forget the rest of his life—hitting a home run in the world series—but not just that—hitting a walk-off homerun in extra innings to WIN the world series.  It’s Kirk Gibson, Casey at the Bat, Michael Jordan vs. the Utah Jazz.  It’s basically, and I’m not exaggerating here, it’s basically every little boy’s dream.  It’s what we do in our backyards and playgrounds, as we count down the clock . . .I still remember it, bouncing a ball in my driveway, “Howell on the wing. . .5 seconds . . .4 seconds . . .he’s trapped . . .3 seconds . . .oh he dribbles around . . .he jumps, he shoots . . .he scores!!!!”  Well, every kid scores the winning shot in the backyard.  When you miss, you just collect the ball and try again until it goes in.  I’ve never really hit that shot in the big game, or hit the homerun, or caught the winning td pass in the final seconds, or birdied the 18^th to win.  I’ve had my moments, maybe just enough to have a shadow of a glimpse of a hint of the kind of feeling this kid from Georgia has this morning, watching himself on the lead story on Sportscenter living the dream and giving hope again to every little boy—even the little boys inside grown men.  Is it the boy or the man in me who had to choke back a goofy tear watching that today?