Me: "Yeah, my wife bought me the new college basketball game as a present. You know what that means?"
Chris: "What?"
Me: "We're teammates."
It drew a good laugh out of him, not that it ever took much. He was about as easy to make laugh as anyone I know. The best laugh I ever got out of him was when I told him that after my mother-in-law watched him play in the Texas game two seasons ago, she declared that he had sexy arms.
Even though I didn't see him around at all this past season, having graduated already, as a Vol alum, I obviously still root for him. But, the way I cheer for Chris Lofton is not quite the same as the way I cheer for other athletes.
Some athletes out there come off as real jerks. Maybe you pull for them anyway because they are exciting to watch, or they are on your favorite team. While I love to watch Kobe, it doesn't kill me to see him fail, because from what I know, he doesn't seem like a particularly good guy.
Most athletes don't come off as jerks, but you don't really know what kind of person they are. You pull just a little bit harder for someone when you are absolutely certain that not only are they a great athlete, but a great person as well.
It hurt me to see him struggle this year after his brilliant seasons past. Like most Vol fans, I wondered where his once near-miraculous three-point stroke had gone.
When my brother called me last night to relay the news of Chris Lofton's secret battle with cancer, I was shocked, but only by the news that he had cancer, not the way he handled it.
The humility in that unwillingness to make excuses or become a distraction, the perseverance in the face of difficulty, and the refusal to let it undermine his team—those were all things I had seen in him before.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Tennessee Volunteers Basketball articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
4 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete