Reality Check - things in perspective

Every once in a while, things happen that put everything in life into perspective. Three very recent events, one local, one national, and one world really hit me hard and got me thinking.

The first event happened in world news. A 32 year old German goalkeeper took his own life yesterday. He threw himself infront of a train. His name was Robert Enke, and he was the starting goalie for the German national team in many of their recent games. When I saw this headline, my heart sank. I hate to see anyone die this young. A couple years back, Enke's two year old daughter passed away from a rare heart condition. Officials near to the situation indicated that Enke never truly recovered from this unfortunate event. The spot he decided to end his life at was a mere 200 meters from his daughters grave. I think we all too often assume that athletes don't have the same problems normal citizens have. We need to remember that athletes are human beings just as we are. They may be paid handsomely, but they have the same stresses and worries that we do. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Robert Enke in these tough times. Especially his wife and adopted child.

On a national scale here in the US, we get the news that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is being treated for leukemia. Leukemia is obviously an extremely serious illness. It takes courage to fight this disease and Kareem sounded ready for the fight from the press release I heard. Again, we almost look at athletes as being invincible. However, they are just as prone to these things as we are. I think most of us know or knew of someone who suffered from a form of cancer of sickness so we can certainly emphasize and pray for a recovery for this great hall of famer.

The local scale case I'm referring to is a bit of a "you had to be there" kind of thing. In this case, you need to know Chisholm basketball. The Chisholm basketball program lost a member of its "family" last week when Bill Carlson passed away. He had been struggling in the nursing home for some time now. Bill could usually be seen taking stats for the broadcasting crew at Chisholm basketball games. He loved Chisholm as much as he hated every team that played Chisholm, and that's saying something. He had such passion for the Bluestreaks. Before many home games, he'd come down and talk to the A teamers while we were watching the JV game. His conversations were always entertaining. When he talked to me, I distinctly remember him always asking us to beat the other team good. I told him we'd try our best. I'm proud to say that in the last two years of Bill's life, he got to see Chisholm make it down to state twice. I know he was proud of us. After every season, we'd have a team dinner at a local restaurant. Bill would present the older kids on the team with a season review book. He spent hundreds of hours of his life going through every single game, putting together recaps and stats. This firmly illustrated his devotion to the Streaks. This last year, he couldn't make it to the dinner. We didn't receive our books. About mid summer, we received the book in the mail. Bill wasn't doing necessarily well, but he took the time to make them for us. I couldn't be more appreciative of what he did. Those books took so much effort but he made sure they got to us. I'll forever remember Bill when I look through that book. Chisholm has lost one of its finest supporters, but I'm sure Bill will be watching in on Roel's Gymnasium from now on. Keeping stats of course. Rest in peace Bill Carlson, thanks for everything.