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Commodore Notebook – August 29 8/29/2006 Commodore Notebook My dad shakes his head when he hears about some big shot that is in the news for acting like, well, a big shot. You know, when a Paris Hilton whines about photographers or some multi-millionaire athlete needs to rest because he is “too tired” to play ball. We’ve all rolled our eyes at similar stories. “Gee, pay me five million bucks and I’ll sign every autograph regardless of where I’m at or what I’m doing,” we mutter. The truth is, though, almost none of us can relate to extraordinary fame and fantastic wealth so therefore we can’t imagine what the famous really experience. In 1993 I was the publicist for our Final Four women’s basketball team, led by 6-foot 10-inch Heidi Gillingham. She was one of the most special student-athletes I’ll ever get to work with, now having her own Christian ministry. Heidi felt trapped by her height and she’d have quickly traded to become a normal 5-9. Despite her All-America success, she never saw herself as a great athlete. She just saw herself as too tall and the focal point of stares. She would walk by and people would gawk, elbowing their friend to “look quick”. She was the most publicized women’s basketball player in the nation and she was asked a million times “what’s it like to be that tall?” I advised her to develop a brief answer and use it over and over rather than feel compelled to come up with something new and clever. While Heidi was certainly no movie starlet, everyone seemed to want a piece of her time and I saw how the spotlight can quickly wear on someone. Flash forward to the Denver Broncos locker room on August 19, 2006. The Broncos have just thumped the visiting Tennessee Titans and a huge media swarm has surrounded the city’s newest heart throb, rookie quarterback Jay Cutler. He had just enjoyed his second straight impressive outing, making him the most popular post-game media target. I’ve seen this scenario many times over Jay’s Commodore career, albeit with fewer reporters. Jay was one guy we could always depend upon to show up on time and answer questions regardless of the situation. He knows his role. So pardon me if I take some exception to seeing Jay characterized by the local media as being “ungrateful” or inconsiderate for not taking time to have one-on-one interviews with Nashville television stations. Athletes have lives, too. Jay had purchased a house and wanted to oversee moving details. He no doubt had his family patiently waiting somewhere in the wings. When you do one one-on-one “exclusive” interview, you set yourself up to do many of them. If he would have done exclusives for Nashville outlets, the Denver media would have wanted to join the party. And when a reporter says “I only need a couple of minutes” you can bet that it will be 15 minutes at a minimum. Some of you are probably saying, “But hey, the guy is making millions. He can hang around another hour and answer questions.” Sure he could. And he has; plenty of times because I’ve seen him do it. But I learned many years ago that even angels like Heidi Gillingham can grow weary of the maddening crowd. NCAA Nominees Vanderbilt has nominated two good men for major NCAA Awards. The NCAA Valor Award is presented to a staff member or student-athlete who takes heroic action in a stressful situation. Who better to be considered than our basketball trainer, Mike Meyer, whose actions saved Davis Nwankwo after he collapsed in cardiac arrest on the practice court last March? The NCAA Inspiration Award is presented when merited to someone who has inspired others with personal courage, overcoming a hardship to become a good example to everyone. We think football receiver George Smith is a good contender. Smith overcame transverse myelitis as a Vanderbilt freshman. This is a rare disease that caused paralysis, put George into a coma and caused him to lose almost 40 pounds. It is thought in some medical circles that he may be the only athlete to suffer this disease and come back to play a contact sport. Award winners will be announced at the NCAA’s annual convention in January. |
