By Michael Kinney
MOORE — This year I have done some pretty interesting stories about many different people, places, games and causes. They have included the first Spanish broadcast of an Oklahoma University football game, the creation of a race for a for a infant with a terminal disease and Moore War are just a few of the ones that stand out.
But I would have to say at this time of the year, the article that stands out in my mind was about the OU football team building houses for Habitat for Humanity. It wasn’t that I wrote some beautiful prose in describing the event. In fact, my writing ability had nothing to do with it being a personal favorite.
It was the fact that almost a hundred young men took time out during a busy summer preparing for their upcoming season to do something for others who were less fortunate.
It may sound like a simple gesture, but it’s also an uncommon act that we hardly ever hear about in the sports pages today.
This year the news has been filled with steroids, dogfighting, murders, guns and drugs. If someone was to have just started reading and watching sports in 2007 they might think our sports are filled with part-time convicts.
So, when a story like the Sooners going to Noble and working to build houses for the homeless comes along, as a writer, you jump at. If only just to remind you that sports is not just filled with greed and depravity, as it is portrayed on a daily basis.
It also reminds you that the bad news that’s reported on is only a small percentage of the athletes. The majority of college and professional men and women that compete are good people who do good things.
Shaquille O’Neal, Tigers Woods and Derek Jeter all have foundations dedicated solely for their philantrophy interests.
There are even groups that were created to help athletes in their philanthropy efforts. They include Athletes for Hope, The Giving back Fund and the Sports Philanthropy Project.
AFH includes such icons and stars as Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, Andre Agassi, Cal Ripken, Jr., Jeff Gordon, Mia Hamm, Tony Hawk, Mario Lemieux, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Warrick Dunn and Alonzo Mourning, who are making a difference with their time and money.
Yet, it’s easy to do such things when you make millions a year. The true philanthropist who make the biggest difference are the everyday citizens. They are the ones who stockpile the Salvation Army with winter clothes or give their time to feed the less fortunate at homeless shelters.
It’s not hard to be one of those people. Check around your community, there are organizations that you can volunteer your time, money and efforts to helping out those in need.
In a time when most of us are only concerned with our own wants, including myself, we can all take a lesson from those people who put others firsts. Whether they are athletes, plumbers, accountants or housewives, they are the ones who make the best stories.
