The Apology

We're better at getting into trouble with what we say than we are in extricating ourselves. The following, from September 30, 2007, is the very definition of humility and class, qualities lacking in both worlds, the sports one and the real one.

There were many angry voices this week in the world of sports. Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy angrily berated a journalist for close to five minutes for casting doubt on the toughness of OSU quarterback Bobby Reid in a Daily Oklahoman article. Gundy's tirade, in a post-game press conference, completely overshadowed a tremendous Cowboys' victory against Texas Tech and made him a You-Tube star. Atlanta Falcons' defensive back Deangelo Hall tore into Coach Bobby Petrino on the sidelines after Hall received three penalties on a Carolina Panthers' scoring drive. Hall, who was fined $100,000 and didn't start today, implied he would have a difficult time co-existing with his coach. It wasn't only the gentlemen who left their civility in the locker room. US womens' soccer team goalie, Hope Solo, lambasted her coach and the teammate who replaced her in America's World Cup loss to Brazil. Solo castigated Coach Greg Ryan and appeared to bash her substitute, veteran Briana Scurry. Solo, who lost her father back in June, found herself in a media firestorm and removed, at least for the short-term, from the American squad and alienated from a number of her teammates.

And then this afternoon, there was this news item. Today in Germany, Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie shattered the world marathon record by an astounding twenty-nine seconds .....and apologized. The previous record holder, Kenyan Paul Tergat, is a friend of Gebrselassie and called to congratulate the new record holder. Gebrselassie had the audacity- get this- to humbly confess to Tergat that he was the beneficiary of superior weather conditions which aided his stunning performance. How refreshing! In a time when the loudest screamers get the most publicity, a soft-spoken runner displays a humble attitude instead of arrogance. I know nothing about marathons but I have a favorite runner now in the thirty-four year old Ethiopian. Can we clone him? Haile Gebrselassie is a living definition, at least publicly, of Paul's admonition in Philippians chapter two, verse three:
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility, consider others better than yourself."
It's hard to consider others better than ourselves when we are yelling at or about them. A little humility goes a very long way... or in this case, twenty-six miles and three hundred sixty-five yards.


Applicable quote of the day:
"To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness."
Benjamin Franklin

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com