The Death of a Hero Puts Sports Into Perspective

Sports are a big part of my life.

As insipid as that may sound, it's true. As an aspiring sports journalist, sports are something that I pay attention to at all hours of my day. One glance at my profile page will give a description as to how important sports are in my life.

But it's funny how in the blink of an eye, with the uttering of a short phrase, everything can be put into perspective.

That's what happened to me on Thursday, August 7. That late evening I was sitting at a buddies house playing a game of NCAA Football '09 on the X-Box 360. We were in overtime and at the time winning that particular game was the most important thing in my mind.

Then, the phone rang, and four words changed everything.

"McKiski died in Iraq."

You may have heard the story that's made semi-national news over the past couple of weeks. Two Marines died in a military vehicle accident in Iraq. One of them was from Rockford, Illinois, and that man was one of the best friends I ever had.

Death can put sports into perspective perhaps better then anything else can. I'm sure that same thing happened to countless people after 9/11, after Hurricane Katrina, or after the death of any one of the 4,144 Americans who have died in the Iraqi War. In no way am I trying to say that my friend's death is any bigger then any of these. But unlike any of these other horrific American tragedies, this hit home in a rather obvious way.

Suddenly, the fact that the White Sox had lost that night didn't matter. Suddenly, I didn't care where Brett Favre was going to play in 2008, or whether the Bulls were ever going to get rid of Ben Gordon.

Death can do that to you. It can take the thing you think is the most important thing in the world at any given moment, and make it seem pointless, stupid, and downright ridiculous.

My friend was a real hero. He was genuine, and had known he wanted to be a Marine for as long as I knew him. He knew he wanted to be a Marine before there was a war and he didn't change his mind when we went to war.

We can debate all day as to whether or not we should be in Iraq, the decision of President Bush, or anything of that matter. But the fact of the matter is that my friend wanted to be a Marine, and was comfortable with the fact that he might die in combat. His friends and his family don't in the slightest bit blame our countries decisions on his death. But all of that seems rather pointless to me right now.

That being said, while death can make one debate the importance of sports, as well as anything else, in their lives, at the same time sports is a safe-haven during tragedy.

It was important for sports to continue in the city of New York after 9/11, just as it was for the Saints to continue their season after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

And when death hit me the hardest, and sports seemed insignificant, they were still what I turned to in order to find peace.

Many nights over the past two weeks, and even still, I would lie in bed and turn on late-night coverage of the Olympics. Whether it be swimming, volleyball, boxing or badminton, the Olympics kept my mind off of what I had been through. They kept my mind at ease when thinking about my friend is all I wanted to do.

And that's why I love sports.

Put everything else aside. The competitiveness, the athleticism, the pure fun of the games, and sports has a deep meaning that few can understand. Sports is so important in life that it lets you know when it can be unimportant. When the game is just a game and the athletes you worship are just people.

Death puts things into perspective. I guess I should consider myself lucky that it never affected me personally until I was 21, as I'm sure many people out there have been affected by death far harder and far more personally then I ever have.

But while death changes you in ways that are unimaginable, sports will always be there. Whether they're there to be a distraction, an afternoon activity, an event to get liquored up and scream obscenities, or simply as the unimportant, second-hand nonsense you hardly care about during the hardest of times, they're always there. However you need them.

And that's how death put sports into perspective for me.

RIP Adam Thomas McKiski 08/07/08