Life after the bright lights dim

It’s hard to believe that the NHL has started their 2009-2010 season. MLB isn’t over yet although the NFL has begun; the NBA is in pre-season. I am not sure about MLS, but I think they are still playing. We have a lot of sports teams in the U.S., no doubt about it. But when you sort through the number of players that make up a sport, a team, a league, you find out the players are pretty much just average people who have incredible talent. It’s when you focus on a superstar that things get out of balance---I will leave their stories to Access Hollywood.

It may have been the same year, I don’t recall, but I met two athletes and had the opportunity to talk with both of them. They were just your average guys---and both were retired. We were about 10 years apart in age.

I was in a bar with some business associates while we were at a sales meeting in Florida; this is back in the days when you had sales meetings. One of my associates had a little too much to drink and picked a fight with the bodyguard of a former NHL player named Ron Greschner. Ron had played for the NY Rangers. Ron Greschner was one tough guy; I assure you his bodyguard was tougher.

After things calmed down I sat down next to Ron and we talked. We didn’t talk about his hockey career, we didn’t talk about his wife at the time---Sports Illustrated swimsuit model---Carol Alt, we talked about finances. Yes finances. He was into the stock market and so was I. He was into talking about the economy and so was I. It was a great talk. I am not sure he knew what I did, I am not sure if he knew that I knew he played in the NHL for the Rangers. It never came up.

It must have been a good year because a few months later I met Jim Plunkett at another sales meeting. He was a guest speaker at a meeting I was attending. Jim had retired a few years earlier and was a star quarterback; both at Stanford where he won the Heisman trophy and in the NFL. Probably one of his greatest NFL moments came when he helped the Oakland/LA Raiders win 2 Super Bowls---he retired shortly afterward. After the meeting I went up and introduced myself. We were outside walking to an adjacent golf course where our meeting was being held. Thankfully he played in a different foursome. I was relieved. Golf is not my game.

We walked and talked about what it was like to walk off the field for the last time. I know he had been asked this question before, but his response was honest, sincere and painful. He said, “It was the hardest moment of his life.” He was in his 30s and he didn’t know what he was going to do next. Football was over.

The picture above was taken in the highest section at the United Center in Chicago. It was a game where the St. Louis Blues literally annihilated the Chicago Blackhawks. What I like most about the photo is how they are all bunched together as a team. It’s the celebration that makes a sport fun to watch. Because as I have learned, when the celebrating stops---life begins.

Thanks for stopping by.