To an Athlete Dying Young

Okay, she's not dead, but Brandi Chastain's career with the US Women's Soccer Team is over. And, of course, any minute now we'll be seeing her drop to her knees and rip off her jersey all over the news in those pictures from the 1999 World Cup.

I'm not a sports fan - I don't even watch baseball. (Don't tell anyone, you can get deported for admitting that.) This news still makes me feel sad, though. Brandi Chastain was about 31 years old when she showed us all what pure joy looks like (and what her torso looked like). She's not 40 now, and yet her coach thinks she's past it. He may even be right. Sport is probably the least forgiving pursuit there is, with the possible exception of music, painting, theater and movies, politics, and a couple dozen others.

Still, I've got two quotations in mind now. Can't remember the exact words or who said them. One goes something like this: "The most charming things in the world are charming just because they're temporary." The other (which I seem to recall comes from Ray Bradbury) goes something like this: "I like to read the sports page because on the front page I read about wars and murders, whereas on the sports page I read about human accomplishment and teamwork."

Benshlomo says, Keep on truckin'.