Boomers . . . and How They Got That Way
Epistle 16 – Heroes
Along with half of the male children of my generation, my childhood hero was Mickey Mantle. Strong, handsome, great ball player. And a really cool name that sort of rolled off your tongue and looked good in the sports page headlines. The only downside was that The Mick played for the Damn Yankees and the rest of the town hated me for cheering him on. I didn’t care because he started me on the road to fame and fortune. One year I wagered my life savings, about $3.50, on the Yankees in the World Series, which, of course, they won, coming from behind in dramatic fashion and enriching my life beyond my wildest dreams . . . before or since.
Maybe heroes are supposed to have cool names like Mickey Mantle and Joe Montana. Win one for The Gipper, right? And how about Bart Starr? C’mon, is that a real name? Talk about Hollywood casting. Real people don’t have names like that and we need common heroes I can relate to. Take Jerry Wunsch, for instance. Who’s Jerry Wunsch, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. Jerry was a football lineman for the University of Wisconsin and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, among others. He was a solid, dependable, beefy guy who sweated and got his uniform dirty, and probably never got arrested for anything more than a traffic ticket. But guys named Wunsch never get to catch the game-winning pass or kick a last second field goal. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the risk of having to carry them off the field on your shoulders, but it’s just not fair.
“Eddie the Eagle” Edwards, the British Olympic ski jumper, was a great hero. “Soar, Eagle, soar!” and “The Eagle has landed!” were great battle cries, but we don’t hear them anymore. I fear they have been drowned out by the wailing sirens coming to arrest our idols for some new and improved variety of moral turpitude. Can this be happening to us? Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Oh, I know there are still role models out there, but did you have anybody named Tiger in your neighborhood? I just had guys like Gopher, Butch, Big Shoe and Moby; and nobody seemed interested in putting them on a pedestal. As a matter of fact, I have a hard time seeing them there myself, but that’s just plain wrong.
Let’s win one for the Wunsch!
We Will Win
Filed under: Boomers . . . and How They Got That Way
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Hmmm… Tesch and Wunsch. Is this a conspiracy of some sort? Well said, Jim. I think for many every day heroes the reward is going to come later. In the meantime we know that God doesn’t forget.
Phil