Page 10-Wednesday, August 5, 1981-The Michigan Daily
. THE SPORTING VIEWS Three athlet;s...
... the spi
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rit they share
By JOHN FITZPATRICK
Daily sports writer
An athlete is a difficult creature to define. What
must one do in order to be one? Have the keen batting
eye of a pro ball player, perhaps, or the graceful
flexibility of a gymnast? These are physiological
requisites-what of the intangibles? Emotions such
as tenacity and dogged courage are often brought to
mind when thinking of the quintessential athlete, as
well as a willingness to surpass one's limitations, and
the conviction to do so.
Terry Fox was such an athlete. His name may be
familiar to some, as it was mentioned in the national
media several weeks ago. Fox was the man who at-
tempted to run across Canada last year' to raise
money for cancer research.The task he set for him-
self was imposing enough, but the handicap he
carried with him was a potentially greater onus.
Terry Fox had only one leg, his left; the other he had
lost to cancer.
Fox completed 3,000 of the 5,000 miles that lay
before him. Each day he would rise early and,
ignoring incessant fatigue and stiff joints which
begged for relief, would shuffle down some desolate
highway. He believed in himself, and it was this belief
and the contempt for the supposed "disability" he
had, which drove him forward, day after day.
And pain was always there. The disease had not left
Fox; it was spreading throughout his body even as he
ran twenty, thirty, or even more miles every day. He
would have to vomit frequently, but he persisted. He
was nuturing a cause, this stubborn athlete, and in
the tradition of true athletes he carried on.
But in September of 1980, he could continue no
longer. 3,000 miles had passed under foot, and as Fox
was hospitalized, donations to the Canadian Cancer
Society poured in, the total amount reaching into the
millions. Fox fought the cancer which was now in his
abdomen and lungs with the same courage he had
displayed during his run, but he was fighting a losing
battle and passed away last June.
It is this spirit, the endurance which Faulkner
wrote of mingled with the bravery which was.
Hemingway's subject, that Fox highlighted with such
excellence. It is the spirit of athletics.
Harry Cordellos is an athlete. Cordellos is a
marathon runner and water skier who works for the
Bay Area Rapid Transit system in San Francisco,
providing information to lost travelers. Harry Cor-
dellos is also blind.
He has'run a sub-three hour marathon, and is a
relentless trainer. "But doesn't his blindness hinder
him?" it might be asked, along with countless other
questions as to just how a blind man can run a
marathon, and run one quite well. Cordellos an-
swered these queries towards the end of a short ar-
ticle he did several years ago concerning his first
marathon: "Hut what about those questions?" he
wrote. "Every marathon runner could write a book
about his first marathon. If this summary does not
seem too different from most of them, then maybe
blindness is not the tragic handicap people often
make of it."
Bob Hall is an athlete. Hall, with massive shoulders
and a heavily muscled upper-body, is one of the
pioneers in wheelchair "running," and has twice won
the wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon. Hall
frequently trains in excess of 100 miles a week, much
of it over the rolling hills of his hometown, Belmont,
Massachusetts.
Each of these men display a resoluteness and in-
domitable will which is to be found in that "spirit"
mentioned before. It is tempting to look upon them as
freaks-as anomalies, interesting to look at because
they are unique. But they are not unique, and do not
think themselves to be so. Unique, perhaps, in the
sense that they are sportsmen, and that many people
are not, but only in that sense. As such, they are to be
admired and respected. They have never asked for
pity, for they are athletes, and that is enough.
I
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EAST LANSING (UPI) - Mar- cotics Squad said undercover JONES WAS not a teacher in
tin D. Jones, the part-time agents made four drug buys from East Lansing, but had been em-
wrestling coach at East Lansing Jones - one for as much as $600 ployed as a coach on a part-time
High School, was arraigned - during a two-month in- basis.
yesterday on charges of selling vestigation leading up to Jones' East Lansing Superintendent
ets cocaine and valium. arrest. W. Robert Docking said no action
However, Wriggelsworth said will be taken against Jones pen-
Jones, 25, of Lansing, was there was no evidence that the ding the outcome of his trial.
released on his own recognizance former high school athlete had
C o k e and $4,000 bond following been selling drugs to his "He is currently our wrestling
arraignment in Lansing District wrestlers or other students. coach. He has not been tried yet,"
Court on three counts of Jones wrestled and played Docking said.
delivering cocaine and one count football while attending Eastern A preliminary examination
of delivering valium. High School in Lansing in 1972-74. was set for Aug. 21 in Lansing.
DET. LT. Gene Wriggelsworth He has a degree from Michigan Jones faces a maximum term of
of the Tri-County Metro Nar- State University. five years in prison if convicted.
AP Photo
Spring training? ....... in Ann Arbor?
The Cincinnati Reds continue their workouts at Michigan's indoor practice the Reds chose to come to Ann Arbor to utilize the fieldhouse's artificial surface.
fieldhouse yesterday. Getting prepared to resume their strike-interrupted season, The Reds will continue with their "summer" training through tomorrow.