This is the type of worshipful attention which can ruin a young, not-yet-well-grounded athlete. It can especially ruin an athlete who must depend more on his brains than his body. It ruined Michael Vick. It might yet ruin Vince Young. It would not have ruined Tony Romo - until whiney Jessica began to seep into his days and nights.
Every high performing human is a fractional distance from ruin. Tony Romo was carefully cultivated: a favorite tomato plant in Bill Parcells' garden. Now, Romo could be ruined. He could be effectively poisoned - and might be already.
Don't get me wrong: the odds are Romo will still be whatever he would've been before Jessica flounced into the picture. But, her presence lessens his odds of success. She could poison him. She could herald the end of his excellence, and she possibly already has: since the day she arrived, Romo has arguably played one good game - Carolina; and four bad ones.
A quarterback's excellence is an edge of a cliff type of thing. The beauty of Romo was watching him dance upon the micro edge of the cliff. He was a man dancing joyfully above a 2000 foot abyss. Romo pranced upon the perilous edge as if he had not a care or a fear in the world. It was beautiful. Was. Might never be again.
I doubt that Sarah and Emily Hughes' parents - aka sports parenting geniuses* - would approve of the ethos of negativity which surrounds Jessica Simpson like a cloud.
My description of Sarah Hughes' free skate in Salt Lake City:
There was tremendous pressure. Hughes went out with intensity. She nailed a jump. She nailed a second jump. There was still a series of difficult jumps remaining, but, at the moment of landing the second jump, Hughes broke into a glorious and genuine and exuberant smile. At that moment, she knew she was going to kick butt in this performance, and she just began to glow. She put it all out there for the rest of the performance, completely fearlessly, with no thought of failure, a performer at her best.
Tony Romo should marry Sarah Hughes. Think of the mentally tough kids they would produce! They should marry for the sake of the nation.
Sarah is now 22 years old. Last year she had a crush on Mets 3B David Wright. She is perfect for Romo.SI: You recently told USA Today that you are witty and playful and all things light and merry. Was that off the top of your head or did a publicist feed you that line?
Hughes: I came up with that myself in my dorm room at about 11:30 at night. I don't get fed lines by publicist!SI: You told this magazine two years ago that one of the great things about the Smuckers Stars on Ice tour was that "if I want to find a boyfriend, I can go to every city in the country, find the cute boys and give them seats on the ice to watch me do what I do best." How did that work out?
Hughes: It totally backfired. I am still single. But that was a good idea, right?SI: Yes. Who is the one man who would like to see on skates?
Hughes: Michael Jordan. But if I was skating with them, I would pick someone different.
SI: And that would be?
Hughes: [Mets third baseman] David Wright. If we ever go skating, I'll let you know how it goes.
SI: David Wright might not be too good a skater?
Hughes: Well, I'd help him out.
SI: Isn't this interview merely a ploy to use SI to get the attention of David Wright?
Hughes: (Laughs) Well, I do have a new appreciation for the Mets -- and I think they'd like as many fans as they can get.
*The blogpost about Sarah and Emily Hughes - which mentioned Mr. and Mrs. Hughes (link) - continues to attract internet views two years after it was published. People steadily come to it, maybe for the pictures.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment