In tragedy, stars show human side

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-22 09:48

When they are performing their special brands of artistry on the playing courts and fields of the world it seems like our elite athletes are, well, not of this world.

Roger Federer gliding over the grass at Wimbledon, Tiger Woods snaking in a monster putt at Augusta, Kobe Bryant nailing a game-winning three-pointer at the Staples Center, Usain Bolt scorching tracks all over the world and Michael Phelps sizzling pools; they, and their kindred spirits, mesmerize us with their freakish talent and we put them on ridiculously large pedestals.

However, as has been writ before, they are just like us and that is borne out when their foibles are exposed or tragedy strikes.

Those sporting legends, whom most of us only see in the little box in our livingrooms, laugh and weep just like we mere mortal folk.

As big and ugly as I am, I shed tears when I heard Haiti, a near neighbor of my adopted home Jamaica, had been shattered by a monster earthquake and thousands upon thousands were dead.

I wasn't alone, for sure. Many of those two-dimensional figures inside our TVs must have felt just as I - and you - did and they have shown, worldwide, life is not just a game.

Federer, the world's No 1 tennis player, launched a special fundraiser in faraway Melbourne on the Sunday before the Australian Open started to raise money for Haiti with fellow stars Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Serena Williams and others.

In Miami, which boasts a large Haitian population, former NBA great Alonzo Mourning and the Heat's star guard Dwyane Wade have co-founded the Athletes Relief Fund for Haiti, which has already raised about $1 million.

Serena, and undoubtedly her sister Venus, are making donations to Haiti as is Woods, who is reportedly passing on at least $3 million, despite his personal issues.

Baseballer David Ortiz, of the Dominican Republic which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, is sending medical aid via his country.

The NFL's Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions have already made substantial contributions to the cause and the US's major sporting leagues are looking at ways to help out that god-forsaken island to the south.

The NBA's Samuel Dalembert, who plays for the 76ers and was born in Port-au-Prince, has pledged $100,000 to UNICEF and plans to travel back to the rubble of the town of his birth as does WBC welterweight champion Andre Belto, who has canceled a lucrative title unification bout with Shane Mosley later this month after losing at least eight relatives in the quake.

Much troubled Haiti has never been a sporting hot bed but it's at the center of the thoughts of the entire sporting world and those who play in it right now.

Perhaps we should keep that in mind next time we want to call some athlete overpaid and greedy.

Tym Glaser is a sports copy editor who hopes a new Haiti will emerge for the rubble. He can be contacted at tymglaser@hotmaill.com.