Anyone who has ever shot a basketball has said to her or himself (or out loud) 3 – 2 – 1 and shot the ball to win the game theoretically. Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale did that not once but twice to win the semi-final and then the National Championship game for her team. I doubt anyone has ever done that before; it’s what dreams are made of. As much fun as winning is, and as incredible as stories like this one are, the truth is that one team loses every game and only rarely can anyone be a hero in sports. But we can learn in sports the effort it takes to be a hero – to make a difference in the lives of others. It takes a daily commitment to care about someone or some cause that is outside of ourselves – tutoring a young child, coaching a young athlete, feeding the hungry, or doing any number of kind acts that make the world a better place. There are few heroes like Arike Ogunbowale, but there are countless others whose heroics are far more important and usually far less celebrated. What kind of hero would you like to be? How are you going about it on a day to day basis?
“I will give of my time, skills, and money as I am able for the betterment of my community and world.” – the last tenet of the Code.
