Post by LongBlade on Jan 1, 2005 22:03:59 GMT -6
For Mariel, golden days and grim, too
John Canzano
The Oregonian
December 31, 2004
www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf?/base/sports/110449823659160.xml
Someone told me the other day on an airplane that the two most significant sports stories of 2004 were: A) baseball's steroid issue and B) that ugly NBA brawl in Detroit.
And since we're just about out of time, I figured I would take a vote on the final day of the year and decide which one is the most significant story of the year.
But I can't.
Not before I tell you about Mariel.
She's 19. She's lived most of her life in Beaverton. Earlier this year, Mariel's parents separated. Then, they got a divorce, which became official only on Thursday.
"This year has had its ups and downs," said Cathy, Mariel's mother.
Now, you'd be right to wonder what a divorce has to do with sport. But while you're at it, ask yourself what steroids and punching people who are in the stands really have to do with sport, too.
But first, back to Mariel.
She's a freshman at Notre Dame, undecided on a major. She has two brothers. And if it's sport you require, just know that her parents were Olympic rowers in 1976.
So when I saw Mariel for the first time this summer, maybe I was just seeing the reflection of two people who fell in love, got married, raised a family and had all of that fall apart as things sometimes do. Life can be like that.
Except, the first time I saw Mariel, she was holding a 3-foot sword.
Then, she was being tossed in the air by a group of smiling men.
Then, she had a gold medal placed around her neck.
"The whole thing with my parents went down right at the height of all that Olympic stuff," Mariel said. "I just kept telling myself that everyone goes through hard times and life wasn't going so good. And I kept telling myself that things would get better."
Mariel was not supposed to win a gold medal in Athens. No American woman had ever won any medal in fencing, let alone a gold one. And a few months before the Olympics, Mariel was the team alternate. In fact, the U.S. Olympic Committee took two team photographs; one with Mariel, one without.
"I still remember when they asked me to step out of the photograph," she said. "That was difficult to hear."
Mariel, if you don't already know, is Mariel Zagunis. You probably remember her. It was that wonderful photograph of Mariel, her clutching the American flag as she was tossed into the air by the U.S. men's fencing team, that became one of the most memorable images of the Olympics.
It was a good story because she beat China's Tan Xue 15-9. It was a good story because Mariel was an unknown and a team alternate. It was a good story because her sport changed because of it. And maybe, too, some little girl back in the United States or some other part of the world was watching and thinking, "That might be me someday."
I was at the Super Bowl to see the Patriots win. I watched the Red Sox celebrate during the World Series. I saw UConn win the NCAA men's basketball championship. I saw the Detroit Pistons win and Smarty Jones lose.
So remember steroids or that brawl if you want. Me? I'll take that day in Athens. And that sport, which I knew very little about before Mariel.
Because when you think about it, her victory had as much to do with sport as it did humanity.
Said Mariel: "This year has been the very highest of my life and the very lowest. I just kept hoping things would get better."
John Canzano
The Oregonian
December 31, 2004
www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf?/base/sports/110449823659160.xml
Someone told me the other day on an airplane that the two most significant sports stories of 2004 were: A) baseball's steroid issue and B) that ugly NBA brawl in Detroit.
And since we're just about out of time, I figured I would take a vote on the final day of the year and decide which one is the most significant story of the year.
But I can't.
Not before I tell you about Mariel.
She's 19. She's lived most of her life in Beaverton. Earlier this year, Mariel's parents separated. Then, they got a divorce, which became official only on Thursday.
"This year has had its ups and downs," said Cathy, Mariel's mother.
Now, you'd be right to wonder what a divorce has to do with sport. But while you're at it, ask yourself what steroids and punching people who are in the stands really have to do with sport, too.
But first, back to Mariel.
She's a freshman at Notre Dame, undecided on a major. She has two brothers. And if it's sport you require, just know that her parents were Olympic rowers in 1976.
So when I saw Mariel for the first time this summer, maybe I was just seeing the reflection of two people who fell in love, got married, raised a family and had all of that fall apart as things sometimes do. Life can be like that.
Except, the first time I saw Mariel, she was holding a 3-foot sword.
Then, she was being tossed in the air by a group of smiling men.
Then, she had a gold medal placed around her neck.
"The whole thing with my parents went down right at the height of all that Olympic stuff," Mariel said. "I just kept telling myself that everyone goes through hard times and life wasn't going so good. And I kept telling myself that things would get better."
Mariel was not supposed to win a gold medal in Athens. No American woman had ever won any medal in fencing, let alone a gold one. And a few months before the Olympics, Mariel was the team alternate. In fact, the U.S. Olympic Committee took two team photographs; one with Mariel, one without.
"I still remember when they asked me to step out of the photograph," she said. "That was difficult to hear."
Mariel, if you don't already know, is Mariel Zagunis. You probably remember her. It was that wonderful photograph of Mariel, her clutching the American flag as she was tossed into the air by the U.S. men's fencing team, that became one of the most memorable images of the Olympics.
It was a good story because she beat China's Tan Xue 15-9. It was a good story because Mariel was an unknown and a team alternate. It was a good story because her sport changed because of it. And maybe, too, some little girl back in the United States or some other part of the world was watching and thinking, "That might be me someday."
I was at the Super Bowl to see the Patriots win. I watched the Red Sox celebrate during the World Series. I saw UConn win the NCAA men's basketball championship. I saw the Detroit Pistons win and Smarty Jones lose.
So remember steroids or that brawl if you want. Me? I'll take that day in Athens. And that sport, which I knew very little about before Mariel.
Because when you think about it, her victory had as much to do with sport as it did humanity.
Said Mariel: "This year has been the very highest of my life and the very lowest. I just kept hoping things would get better."