Michael Jordan's sudden (first) retirement in 1993 caused me to stop really even paying attention to the NBA until rumors of his return swirled in February/March 1995. Watching him sink the final shot against Utah in 1998 to seal the second three-peat felt like the perfect ending to the career. Pippen was leaving; Jackson was leaving; there wasn't really a reason for Jordan to come back again. We were able to watch that final shot and say goodbye. While Jordan's farewell tour of 2003 after his second comeback let all the fans have a chance to see him play live one last time, it wasn't at his former glory of the 90s. But every arena sold out, regardless of who the home team was. Jordan was allowed to enter his last game with just over a minute and a half left. He was fouled so that we could see his last shots (two free throws he made, of course). As soon as the 76ers (his opposition) inbounded the ball, they were fouled so that Michael could go back to the bench. I watched that game, a national broadcast that had no playoff implications.
In 2000, my favorite football player died in the prime of his career. Derrick Thomas died of a blood clot that was a result of a car crash. Unlike Jordan's final farewell, Chiefs fans weren't able to say goodbye to Thomas. Everyone thought he had more years, and he had, if he hadn't been speeding recklessly that one night. The blood clot didn't come right away, so we could deal with him probably not playing anymore due to the accident, which caused paralysis from the chest down. But it happened in the offseason (at least for the Chiefs, the post-season was still going). We weren't expecting him at the next game the next week.
Yesterday, my favorite baseball player of my lifetime, second favorite Yankee, tore his ACL. In a previous post, I had written about watching Mariano play at least one more time when New York comes to Seattle. Before this season, Mariano had told the media that he knew whether or not this was his final season. He just wasn't going to tell us until it was time to tell us. Mariano is 42 years old. 42 is his number (he'll be the last player in MLB to wear 42, Jackie Robinson's number), 42 is also his career post-season saves. The next closest player has 18. Rivera is a competitor. He has told people that he would never want to go out due to being ineffective or to an injury. The question is at 42, could he come back either later this season, or would he return for the 2013 season to go out pitching? Will he take this as a sign from God that enough is enough? Will the numbers 42-42-42 be enough for Mariano. Part of me hopes not. Part of me still wants to see him play. However, with an injury like this, where a pitcher in particular has to plant so much weight and wear on those knees pitching, will he return to form? Or will he be a shadow of his former self, like MJ's second comeback?
On the note of saying goodbye, or not getting a chance, Junior Seau, NFL staple at linebacker from 1990-2009, committed suicide this week. While he played for rival teams, Seau was one of the players who I enjoyed watching. He played in two Super Bowls, one for San Diego, one for New England, but never won the Vince Lombardi. The NFL is being sued and is investigating the effects of multiple and long term concussions over the span of a career. Seau isn't the first former NFL suicide. If there is a correlation between concussions and depression/suicide, then there will be more former players taking their own lives. Seau's family donated his brain for study so that science and sports can hopefully start taking steps to prevention.
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