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OK. It's Dusty Here. Anyone See This TD?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Pete Incaviglia, Oct 15, 2010.

  1. Pete Incaviglia

    Pete Incaviglia Active Member

    Two teams with 10 seconds to go in a blowout in Seattle area allow a kid with Down Syndrome to run 50-plus yards for a TD.



    Sorry if it's a D_B. Couldn't find it through all the salty discharge in and around my eyes.
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Don't get me wrong, it's a nice gesture, but it's been done about a thousand times already.

    Maybe I've gotten callous, I still haven't forgotten Posnanski's brilliant column about a decade ago that brought tears to my eyes when I read it.
     
  3. bydesign77

    bydesign77 Active Member

    At the end of the clip, there's a ref holding a flag as he runs off the field. I hope he wasn't planning on throwing it for anything on that play. I hope he was just pulling it out in the process of hurrying up to get out of there. Because that is something he should be ashamed of if he was going to (/crossthread)
     
  4. Gator

    Gator Well-Known Member

    As far as I'm concerned, it never gets old. Don't know the kid, don't know the team or the opponent, but I can't even imagine how that made him feel. Watch him coming off the field taking his helmet off. Stuff like this does, in fact, make you want to be a better person.
     
  5. Birdscribe

    Birdscribe Active Member

    The only compelling reason for that referee to have that flag in his hand during that play was to wipe any moisture from his eyes.

    Our soccer region has this program called "VIP." What it is, is a team of developmentally disabled kids (Down's Syndrome, Asperger's, autism, etc) who play teams from our region each week. One of my wife's co-workers is one of the coordinators of the program and as a favor to her -- and to give my girls some perspective -- we played them last week.

    "Playing them," basically means milling around playing the pretense of defense as they score on us repeatedly. Then, the referee basically tells us when it's our turn to score -- usually after the VIPs have rang up 3-4 goals.

    Folks, my girls had the time of their lives. My daughter comes walking off the field after one quarter saying "They're so CUTE!!!!! I want to take one home with me." Another girl started talking to one during the game, trying to engage in conversation. It worked in kibbles and bits; he was too busy trying to score on us.

    Their goal celebrations were better than any goal celebration I've ever seen, better than anything the Premier League, La Liga or the World Cup could throw out: bear hugs, group hugs and a dogpile when one boy with Down's Syndrome scored his first goal of the season.

    My girls couldn't have shown more class if I told them to. They just took to these kids like helpful sisters. They started high-fiving the boys after each goal, clapping after this one boy with severe autism dribbled further than he had during any game and cheering after "getting beat."

    One of the boys, who had Asperger's, wasn't a bad little player. He dribbled really well, had some nice crossovers and rolled the ball on both feet until either shooting or passing. I went over afterward and shook his hand, telling him how much I enjoyed watching him play and how good a player he is. His father looked at me like I just awarded his son a Nobel Prize.

    Never mind the 6-1 beating we delivered our opponent in our "real game." This made my day.

    Excuse me. Getting a bit dusty right now.
     
  6. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    On a similar note, Paul Daugherty of the Cincy Enquirer hit this BLOG! entry out of the park on his daughter, Jillian:

    http://cincinnati.com/blogs/daugherty/2010/10/15/the-magnificent-line-1015/

    He has written about her often over the years and it's just fabulous. I have a developmentally disabled brother and there are so many parallels between him and Jillian.
     
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Aspergers is nothing like the other issues mentioned. My cousin has it and went to Stanford on a swimming scholarship.

    He won't look you in the eye and cannot censor himself at all. He says exactly what he's thinking, no matter how fucked up it is. It's almost like Tourette's without the outbursts. I've seen him reduce family members to tears at events. I just stay away from the guy. Amazingly, he's married with two semi-normal kids and he has a great job.
     
  8. SoCalDude

    SoCalDude Active Member

    Saw a video clip the other day, kid in a wheelchair rolling through the line and down the field into the end zone as the defense opens a path. They don't tear me up anymore, but they are cool and uplifting.
    You know, this is their time. Just because somebody did it 10 years ago doesn't matter to these kids.
    Just like the college-bound athletes sitting at a table in front of several hats. It's their time.
     
  9. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    I liked the "poor tackling" comment at the end.
     
  10. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    So he doesn't work in newspapers?
     
  11. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    I was thinking that he posts here.

    Bird, it sounds like you girl thought she was playing puppies and not people. It is a fine line of making some of these disabled people feel better, but for many of them, especially as Mizzou metioned with Aspergers, their goal in life should be just as high as anyone else's.
     
  12. D-3 Fan

    D-3 Fan Well-Known Member

    That was classy. In a cool, nice way. :)
     
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