Being the new sports editor here at the UVU Review has brought me into a world of responsibility. Don’t get me wrong, my life has been filled with responsibility. But this has brought on a new sense of responsibility. Like a team captain so to speak.
The column this week might sound a tad bit narcissistic, but bear with me. I’m trying to get a point across, somewhere.
Let’s take Derek Jeter for example. Everyone knows him (or should know him) as the team captain of the New York Yankees. His role as captain is to be the face of the team. His role is to drive the team to victory when they need him. But most importantly, his role is to make sure the ship doesn’t run into an iceberg. Last season, Jeter was 37 going on 38. At that age in baseball, one’s numbers start to sink a bit. Batting over .300 was remarkable at that age but Jeter batted .316. Getting over 50 RBIs was unheard of but Jeter hit 59. When the team was down, Jeter was up.
Team captains are slowly disappearing in sports, but athletes like Jeter allow captains to continue to be captains on their respective teams. Myself, I’m trying to be a captain not only to my writers, but hopefully to the reader as well. I’m going to try to make a play when it needs to be made. Write a story when it needs to be written. Say things when they need to be said.
LeBron James is arguably the best basketball player of our time. He’s also arguably the team captain of the Miami Heat. Some may argue Dwayne Wade is, but for my argument’s sake, I’ll talk about James. With the huge monkey on his back of not winning a championship, ever, he entered a Miami organization alongside Wade and a disappearing Chris Bosh to form the Big Three in Miami. The first year, they failed at capturing the gold on their fingers. But just 12 months later, James and company came back to the NBA Finals and captured that illustrious gold they were seeking. How’d James fare? About 30 points a game and just about 10 rebounds. Just about a double-double, and not in an In-N-Out sort of way. He was a team captain that Miami wanted and needed during the playoffs.
I hope that I can be a team captain to my teammates this semester. I won’t be shooting treys with a cramped-up leg or dive into the stands to catch a foul ball. What I will do is shoot stories and ideas to all of the readers with cramped-up fingers and dive into the newsroom to catch my own mistakes. This semester, allow me to be your team captain and lead our sports section to victory.
A bit epic, eh?
Alex Rivera is the assistant sports editor of the UVU Review. You can contact him at arivera.2011@hotmail.com or through his Twitter account @A_River_Uh.
