So I guess all men aren't created equal???

This is the first editorial I ever responded to. You can click the link to the article below and decide how you feel. My letter can be read below.
Rick Reilly's Article

Dear Rick,

I have been a great fan of your work for many years. Though I don’t currently subscribe to Sports Illustrated for a variety of reasons, I often get weekly joy, popping into the local Barnes & Noble, flipping to the back of the weekly SI issue, and reading your column (a crime I believe on par with listening to free music off Limewire). To me, your articles often follow a revolving theme of the human spirit-overcoming obstacles and pursuing your dreams; admirable qualities that often give the reader (me) goose bumps. And while having never met you or knowing anybody who has related a story to me regarding you, I envision you to be a fairly honest, descent, and possibly humble guy. So until it is reported that you have been arrested for DWI, child abuse, or domestic assault, I write you this letter with my first impressions in mind.

Responding to a column is not in my nature, but I was compelled after reading your article about the young cancer survivor named Romney in your article, “You make the call.” I can’t remember reading an article and becoming so incensed by the rationalization, hypocrisy, and detriment that you, along with many people in Bountiful, Utah used to justify your moral outrage. Now before you jump to conclusions and dismiss me as a heartless bastard, let me first state the obvious. In no way do I ever wish anyone in this world would have to go through the hardships that Romney or his family have faced. I am 27 years old, and have no children. However, I still realize if I ever have children, the only thing one can hope for is a baby with ten fingers, ten toes, cries when it is slapped, and is generally a “normal,” “healthy” baby (That, and that it doesn’t grow up to be like Paris Hilton). But the realities of this world show that sometimes families are faced with circumstances not close to the norm and certainly not ideal. I have seen the first hand effect on a family when they are dealt a tough hand by biology and nature. It is hard, tiring and a great burden to the family dynamic-a pressure that rarely alleviates.

For the rest of that child’s life, these parents will often work to make the world see their child as “normal.” They will fight for the world to recognize the need to include this child in all the world has to offer. “My child should be able to participate in anything they wish to do,” they will proclaim, ignoring their child’s limitations. They aren’t saying their kid can do anything, just that they should be aloud to try if they so desire. So communities; sometimes out of guilt, sometime out of humanity, refine the rules and standards set forth and create an opportunity for these individuals to participate in social norms. Structure is compromised for compassion. Romney’s parents may have argued, “He is just like any other 10 year old…He just wants to play baseball like any other boy his age. How can we deny him this opportunity just because he had cancer?”(I would have to imagine that due to our countries propensity to sue for a hangnail that young Romney would have to get medical clearance to participate on his local Pony league team). So with clearance, Romney and his family should have gotten everything they could have wished for; Romney was to be treated like a “normal” ten-year-old boy.

Fast-forward a season, and we are suddenly in the last inning of the leagues championship game. Let me repeat that, CHAMPIONSHIP game. “This is a league where everybody gets to bat, there's a four-runs-per-inning max, and no stealing until the ball crosses the plate,” you nonchalantly explain, as if there is nothing that resembles the true nature of baseball. Whether that’s the case or not, there is still a league, rules, and a ranking system (hence the championship game). To argue if it is real baseball or not is beside the point. It’s a game and a competition.

So the best player is up to bat in the final inning of the championship game, on deck is young Romney (cancer survivor), the opposing coach decides to walk the best player to pitch to Romney, and the world goes full-tilt. Parents start booing, umps make assumptions, coaches go bananas, his sister starts crying, and worst of all his parents scream foul! I had to read the article a couple more times to make sure that I didn’t miss anything. Did Romney not get what every kid dreams of? Did his parents not get to see what they could have never imagined when he was diagnosed with a tumor? Did the fanatics (parents) not get the chance to see a scenario that makes sports truly magnanimous? In case you’re wondering what that is, “that” is called OPPORTUNITY! “That” is all we can ever hope for in this world. Dreams come true when one takes advantage of the opportunities presented to them. Nobody was denied anything. Romney was not prevented from participating, his parents weren’t told that their child wasn’t normal, and the parents were treated to a scenario that could have brought chills and tears to an entire community. Romney gets a hit, and the place goes wild.

Several months ago, a senior at Greece Athena High School in upstate NY, took his one opportunity and captured a nation. Jason McElwain stepped on the basketball court to play in the final four minutes of his schools final regular season varsity basketball game, and the rest as we say, is history. Jason lit it up like no other teammate had ever done, he made shot after shot on his way to 20 points in four minutes. I recall watching the story on the news in pure amazement. Not that he was autistic, and that he scored 20 points in four minutes, but that he was not given anything. The opposing players were not giving Jason free access to the basket ala Nakeesha Sales’ Connecticut scoring record. Jason was being guarded…sort of. His shot was unstoppable with a laser quick release. Jason was not carried off the court because he was autistic; he was carried off the court because he did something exceptional in the face of doubt. He was treated like every other player on the court and outshined everyone (but the compelling part was, he is not “normal,” and that warranted being carried from the court and the national attention).

However, Romney’s story did not conclude with that movie theater ending. Romney struck out and his team lost the game. Romney went home and cried himself to sleep. To which I reply, good for him. When I was 12, I stepped up to bat in my little league teams championship game with the winning run on base and one out. Base hit and we win the game. So what did I do, I struck out and the next guy up won the game. We were champions, but I had failed. In fact, I was arguably the worst player on the championship team; I didn’t start, batted at the end of the lineup, but held my own in the field-playing left field (not the dreaded right field). To this day, I still remember the strike out and how bad I felt for letting my team down in the midst of a wonderful chance (I’m the only one on my team who will ever remember the strikeout.). That failure pushed me toward the next year when I became one of the best hitters on a new team and a team leader. Additionally, the first time I ever played organized baseball; I struck out three times and never made contact with a ball. I cried AT the game. Tom Hanks was wrong, most of us cry because of baseball. If you never try, you’re not living. If you never fail, success cannot be sweet.

There are lots of valuable lessons that were taught that day in Utah. Unfortunately, his family taught us none of them. If his parents feared his emotional fragility, they never should have let Romney play baseball. If they feared that he would get hurt, they never should have let him play baseball. If they wanted to protect him from failure, they never should have let him play baseball. How come no one asked Romney’s coach why he decided to bat Romney behind the best player on the team? Not exactly the best strategy if Romney is as bad as we were meant to believe. Why should the winning coaches be condemned for teaching their players critical thinking and strategy? They embarrassed nobody, and treated Romney as a normal kid. It would have been tragic and pathetic if they pitched to Romney underhand or let him win the game. The world is full of billions of people who have strengths and weaknesses to various degrees.

When I was a young boy, I would play my father in a variety of board games. My dad would consistently beat me at these games leaving me disappointed with the results. Often times I would request that he “let me win” or allow me to “alter” the rules of the game in my favor. Both requests were immediately denied. “If I let you win, then you did not earn it,” he would say. Henceforth, when I finally beat my dad for the first time at something, I was filled with a sense of pride and achievement. These are feelings that can’t be bought, bartered, or rationalized. Today my confidence in myself couldn’t be higher. I am not a high level CEO, superstar athlete, or multi-millionaire; I’m just some guy with a good head on my shoulders and a lot of ambition. I don’t fear failure because I have faced plenty of failure in my life already, and worked my way through it.

As stated earlier, I enjoy your writing. You have talent, and the gift of conveying emotion in relation to sports. However, if everyone wrote as well as you did, you really wouldn’t be very special to Sports Illustrated would you? The biggest fable in this world is that we are told that we are all created equal. It’s a farce and a detriment to true ambition, resiliency, and desire. Below average people can achieve greatness, while greatness can be wasted or thrown away. The sad thing is that out of everyone involved in that game, Romney is the only one who has the right outlook on his failure. He’s ready for his next opportunity, his chance not be normal, but to be a winner. Romney survival is a testament to his strength. Romney will be just fine; it’s all you finger pointers that might want to re-evaluate life’s lessons.