Grasshopper New Media Presents...

I abandoned the news a long time ago: television, newspapers, and even online. You might call it irresponsible, but it occurred to me during one restless night or another that whether I watched the news or not the stories would still be gut wrenching. Stations would still glorify and sensationalize events. Scumbags would still hurt children. Teenagers would still die in car crashes a week before graduation. Fires would still steal homes from families a week before Christmas. Politicians would still be caught in prostitution rings and more often than not the forecast here in Maine would call for snow. And I could not stop these things from happening.

So, I quit. And those things continued, only I wasn’t quite as restless thinking about them at bedtime. In fact, I remember laughing after Gerald Ford died (oh, not that it was funny), because I had heard that Anna Nicole died the very day it happened, but it took over a week for me to hear that a former president had died. The things people talk about.

But today I am writing about a news story. Because, while I’ve often cried listening to one tragedy or another, rarely have my eyes filled because I felt glad or proud or hopeful. But last night my husband asked if I’d heard anything about the softball game in Oregon. I thought he might have actually gone nuts because even when I watched the news, it was never the sports.

So he relayed the story of Sara Tucholsky who hit the 1st home-run of her career last week with 2 players on base. (Now, apparently this was an important game: post-season, Conference titles, championships, etc.) Very exciting, very potent, very good timing. But then Sarah twists her knee at 1st base and is unable to run the bases. Her hit for naught. Her teammates want to help her, or call in a pinch runner, but if they do, although the 2 runs will count, her hit would only count as a single.

Poor kid. Heavy, I imagine, with disappointment.

But teammates Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace carry Sarah from base to base, stopping at each one while she touches down. Not her teammates. Her competition. Her opponents. And so Sarah completes her home-run, because she’s helped not by members of her own team, but by women who want little more than to win the game, the title, for themselves. The actions of these ball players ultimately eliminated their own team from post-season play. Yet they chose to elevate the reality of their sportsmanship and despite the competition between the two teams, they acted with honor.

And I bring it up today because there are a plethora of incidences of poor sports conduct. There are too many stories about cheating and lying and capitalizing on loopholes in the rule books, and celebrating the bad luck of opponents. This is a story of honor, kindness, understanding and inspiration that my children will benefit from hearing.

And, to the coaches and parents of these woman, I am torn between offering congratulations and thanks. So, I’ll do both.

**Update: ESPN reports on the story here:**

by Megin Hatch

Photo graciously provided by mrjerz, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved