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| Bob Cousy chokes back tears as he speaks of his late wife Missy. |
In spite of everything, we rejoice in our
sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and
character produces hope, and hope
does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5
Ok, it’s a stretch to call it heartbreak. It’s not really suffering.
But it is painful just the same. And in spite of Paul’s promise it is hard for me to see how this leads to hope. Although I will keep looking.
I know that in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter at all.
I am long past the time when I had a naïve belief that my heroes, especially my sports heroes, were likely to live up to my expectations.
But it was painful to read the stories of Bob Cousy receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom last week.
Make no mistake. He deserves the award.
Cousy has always had a special place in my pantheon of sports greats. Part of it was because I learned that he was cut from his high school team as a freshman and then again as a sophomore. But he didn’t give up. He got a scholarship to Holy Cross, won an NCAA championship, became a consensus All-American, and an NBA star.
This led me to believe that in spite of my obvious lack of talent, with enough practice, I too could become a great basketball player.
Obviously, that didn’t work out.
But as a young child I became a fan of the Boston Celtics. Those were the Celtics of Cousy and Russell and Heinsohn and Sanders. After one of the games, the announcer was interviewing Bob Cousy, and he asked him about the two young guards who had just joined the team, Sam and K.C. Jones.
“Well,” said Cousy, “personally I’m prejudiced, but I think they’re two of the best young guards in the league.” Actually, he said “pwed-ja-dissed.” And he called them “gods,” not guards. But my young mind reeled. My hero, Bob Cousy admitted on national television that he was prejudiced. I was glad that in spite of his prejudice he could see their talent, but even so, I was deeply disappointed.
Of course it was not long before I realized that he meant he was prejudiced in favor of his teammates, not against black people.
As a basketball player he was amazing, winning six world championships with the Celtics, and leading the NBA in assists for eight years in a row. And he has led a great life off the court as well. In 1950 when black teammate Chuck Cooper was denied entry to the team hotel in North Carolina, Cousy also refused to stay there. By every measure, he has lived an exemplary life.
Cousy has said in the past that he felt guilty that he did not do more to stand up more for another black teammate, Bill Russell, who was the target of several racial incidents in Boston. And he reached out to Russell in a letter expressing his regret. But the truth is that probably says more about Bob Cousy’s sense of right and wrong than it does of a moral failing. Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Michael Jordan are the other three NBA stars who were previously honored with the medal of Freedom.
Cousy has always had a special place in my pantheon of sports greats. Part of it was because I learned that he was cut from his high school team as a freshman and then again as a sophomore. But he didn’t give up. He got a scholarship to Holy Cross, won an NCAA championship, became a consensus All-American, and an NBA star.
This led me to believe that in spite of my obvious lack of talent, with enough practice, I too could become a great basketball player.
Obviously, that didn’t work out.
But as a young child I became a fan of the Boston Celtics. Those were the Celtics of Cousy and Russell and Heinsohn and Sanders. After one of the games, the announcer was interviewing Bob Cousy, and he asked him about the two young guards who had just joined the team, Sam and K.C. Jones.
“Well,” said Cousy, “personally I’m prejudiced, but I think they’re two of the best young guards in the league.” Actually, he said “pwed-ja-dissed.” And he called them “gods,” not guards. But my young mind reeled. My hero, Bob Cousy admitted on national television that he was prejudiced. I was glad that in spite of his prejudice he could see their talent, but even so, I was deeply disappointed.
Of course it was not long before I realized that he meant he was prejudiced in favor of his teammates, not against black people.
As a basketball player he was amazing, winning six world championships with the Celtics, and leading the NBA in assists for eight years in a row. And he has led a great life off the court as well. In 1950 when black teammate Chuck Cooper was denied entry to the team hotel in North Carolina, Cousy also refused to stay there. By every measure, he has lived an exemplary life.
Cousy has said in the past that he felt guilty that he did not do more to stand up more for another black teammate, Bill Russell, who was the target of several racial incidents in Boston. And he reached out to Russell in a letter expressing his regret. But the truth is that probably says more about Bob Cousy’s sense of right and wrong than it does of a moral failing. Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Michael Jordan are the other three NBA stars who were previously honored with the medal of Freedom.
Bob Cousy deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
So far it’s all good. Bob Cousy received an award he richly deserves. An appropriate coda to a life well lived. After the ceremony he said, “this really is the cherry on the sundae.”
So far it’s all good. Bob Cousy received an award he richly deserves. An appropriate coda to a life well lived. After the ceremony he said, “this really is the cherry on the sundae.”
But then.
The news accounts told how Cousy choked back tears as he expressed his sadness that his wife Missy, who passed away in 2013 was not there to share the moment with him even though she “put up with me for 63 years.” And as Cousy sobbed at the podium, Donald Trump put his hand on Cousy’s back to comfort him.
What?
That venal man put his hand on Bob Cousy?
It is a strange juxtaposition because Bob Cousy is everything that Donald Trump is not. He really did rise out of poverty. He grew up in a diverse neighborhood that was basically a slum. He worked hard. He promoted racial equality. He is humble and smart and decent. And, to use a cliché, he is a great family man.
“Mr. President, I know in your world you’re well on your way to making America great again,” said Cousy. “In my world, it’s been great for 91 years.”
Earlier this month, he told NBA.com, “I simply feel, without getting into the politics of it at all, like many Americans — I agree with some of the things he’s done and disagree with others.”
That’s more affirmation than Mr. Trump deserves, but I could live with it.
And then.
Cousy said the honor was special in part because “it is being presented by the most extraordinary president in my lifetime and I’m a B.R., for before Roosevelt.”
According to the Worcester Telegram “Mr. Cousy, a long-time independent, said he respects the White House as the most powerful office in the world and he felt compelled to pay tribute to the president.”
“I understand how controversial Trump is,” Mr. Cousy said. “So I didn’t want to say something that was going to go viral and get all of us in trouble, but I thought that was a nice middle ground and ‘extraordinary’ I suppose can be interpreted in any number of ways in the mind of the listener.”
Maybe.
I can understand how someone could agree with some of the policies the president has embraced. But how can a person of such obvious fundamental decency countenance the indecency, racism, misogyny, and corruption of Mr. Trump?
I want to believe that if Missy had been there he wouldn’t have said that.
The news accounts told how Cousy choked back tears as he expressed his sadness that his wife Missy, who passed away in 2013 was not there to share the moment with him even though she “put up with me for 63 years.” And as Cousy sobbed at the podium, Donald Trump put his hand on Cousy’s back to comfort him.
What?
That venal man put his hand on Bob Cousy?
It is a strange juxtaposition because Bob Cousy is everything that Donald Trump is not. He really did rise out of poverty. He grew up in a diverse neighborhood that was basically a slum. He worked hard. He promoted racial equality. He is humble and smart and decent. And, to use a cliché, he is a great family man.
“Mr. President, I know in your world you’re well on your way to making America great again,” said Cousy. “In my world, it’s been great for 91 years.”
Earlier this month, he told NBA.com, “I simply feel, without getting into the politics of it at all, like many Americans — I agree with some of the things he’s done and disagree with others.”
That’s more affirmation than Mr. Trump deserves, but I could live with it.
And then.
Cousy said the honor was special in part because “it is being presented by the most extraordinary president in my lifetime and I’m a B.R., for before Roosevelt.”
According to the Worcester Telegram “Mr. Cousy, a long-time independent, said he respects the White House as the most powerful office in the world and he felt compelled to pay tribute to the president.”
“I understand how controversial Trump is,” Mr. Cousy said. “So I didn’t want to say something that was going to go viral and get all of us in trouble, but I thought that was a nice middle ground and ‘extraordinary’ I suppose can be interpreted in any number of ways in the mind of the listener.”
Maybe.
I can understand how someone could agree with some of the policies the president has embraced. But how can a person of such obvious fundamental decency countenance the indecency, racism, misogyny, and corruption of Mr. Trump?
I want to believe that if Missy had been there he wouldn’t have said that.
Thank you for reading. Your thoughts and comments are always
welcome. Please feel free to share on social media as you wish.
