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SPORTS
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Photo by TIM MANDELL
Owen County senior Jeremy Kermicle scores against Williamstown’s
Patrick Steele Thursday at Williamstown High School. Kermicle
scored 13 points in the 66-50 victory.
Basketball
Boys
fall in double OT
Worth
the weight
Rebel
Support
The
truth sometimes hurts
On
the Sidelines
Tim
Mandell
I was about a third of the way through James Frey’s memoir
“A Million Little Pieces” when the story came out
that he may have embellished two of the storylines.
It didn’t deter me from finishing the book.
In fact, I actually defended Frey, mostly because, at that point
in the book, the storylines in question seemed like such an insignificant
part of the novel.
Last week Frey admitted that most of the book was a lie.
I feel betrayed — and maybe now understand how Red Sox fans
felt when their beloved Johnny Damon left town to play for the
hated Yankees, when a few months earlier he had said he would
never play for them.
Maybe it’s not the same thing.
Maybe it is.
But I invested my time and energy into reading a 400-plus-page
book that descriptively detailed a man’s struggle to recover
from drug and alcohol abuse, and the friends who helped him along
the way, only to find out that many of these things didn’t
happen, and these friends didn’t say and do the things Frey
claimed they said and did.
In that sense, it seems the same as rooting for a player with
all your heart, and following them day after day, only to watch
them skip town to play for the enemy.
Writers can lie to their readers and sports heroes can lie to
their fans, but one thing that makes being an athlete so great,
is that you can’t lie to yourself.
That’s why I admire weightlifters and joggers.
I used to jog — and recently started walking, because, at
this point, I’m so out of shape I don’t think I can
handle even a short run — and the thing I like about jogging
is that it’s an individual sport.
I decide what pace to run and whether to run for distance or time,
and how far or how long to run.
And I decide when I’m ready to add more distance or time.
It’s the same with weightlifting.
You decide which weights to lift, how much to lift and how many
reps.
And you decide when to add more weight or more reps.
Sure, a runner can lie and say they can go five miles, or can
run a mile in five minutes.
And a weightlifter can claim to bench press 300 pounds.
But if they can’t it doesn’t help them any.
That’s why I like jogging and weightlifting.
They’re hard sports that take a lot time and dedication
to get what you want— whether you’re trying to build
muscle mass, get toned, lose weight or just get in shape.
And you can’t lie.
Because people will know the truth, just by taking one look at
you.
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