FORUM
Run, Jake, run
Nigel Alston
Motivational
Moments
I wonder why, I wonder why.
I wonder why I wonder.
I wonder why I wonder why;
I wonder why I wonder?
- Richard Feynmann
"Act of kindness speaks vol
umes about football's spirit." read
the headline of a story written by
James Walker in the Herald Dis
patch in Huntington. W.Va. I had
received the story forwarded to
me by a co-worker after she had
received it from a friend, saying,
"You will really like this." She
was right.
"The Jake Porter Story" is a
personal story that opens your
heart and rekindles your spirit, a
human interest story that is
sweeping the country and draw
ing national attention. The story
has all the ingredients to move
you emotionally, excite you and
give you goose bumps, and has
made Porter, a high school senior,
a celebrity overnight.
Porter scored a touchdown on
the last play of a football game
with time running out, covering
49 yards in about 10 to 12 sec
onds. He plays football for North
west High School in McDermott,
Ohio. Actually he is more a mem
ber of the team than a player.
According to the story by
Walker, Porter is a "player with
endless amounts of energy and a
giowing personality, un the sur
face, that doesn't sound so signif
icant. but it is when you consider
Porter is mentally handicapped
and is an unlikely candidate for
this kind of attention. However,
his personality fits it perfectly,
and it couldn't have happened to a
more deserving young man.
according to the reports, articles
and interviews with coaches,
friends and school officials.
I watched a video of the
touchdown run and felt myself
cheering for Porter as he initially
hesitated to run through a hole
wide enough for a tractor-trailer
to drive through. I replayed the
video several times, watching the
players step aside after the ball
was snapped, pointing Porter
toward the goal line and running
behind him, some with tears in
their eyes. It was quite an emo
tional moment.
Porter's initial instinct was to
kneel down as he had practiced
his special play with the team dur
ing the week. Because he had
never officially taken a snap in a
game, his coach had worked it out
with the opposing coach - if the
game was not on the line - for
him to take a snap.' kneel down
and end the game.
What happened next proved
to be a magical moment. The
game wasn't close and the oppos
ing coach, his team winning 42
O, changed his mind, deciding to
allow Porter to run for a touch
down. His players were instructed
to step aside as Porter's play was
called. "84-iso." Lined up in posi
tion as the tailback, he took the
ball, hesitated, started to kneel
started (o run again, thought about
kneeling again, and then watt off
to the races. The opposing players
didn't care about the shut-out and
years front now I'm sure they will
remember this special night for
reasons other than the box score.
As I watched the touchdown
run, I wondered what Jake was
thinking about, running to cheers
from fans of both teams, encour
agement from his teammates and
the opposition. Maybe he is a
player. 1 thought, as I watched a
replay of the run showing Porter
looking back over his shoulder
onCe, as if to say, catch me if you
can. He then crossed the goal line,
turned around and handed the ball
to the official, threw up his hands
and celebrated. He was on cloud
nine.
Porter, is "the type of kid that
will follow you around the entire
day - as long as he's having fun,"
according to the story, "and the
type that will leave the room as
soon as he's getting bored. He's
always seeking a thrill, and
undoubtedly this touchdown run
was the biggest thrill in his young
life." He stayed up all night after
that run into the spotlight and is
still talking about it.
We all can learn a lesson or
two from him too. While he had
not taken an official snap in a
football game, he still showed up
on time for practice every day and
dressed in full gear during games
And his personality positioned
him for this special moment
according to his mother, who tolc
his coach once that, "One day
with Jake's personality, he's going
to make national news."
This act of kindness by a foot- I '
ball coach reminds me .of the
poem "One.**
One song can spark a
moment.
One flower can wake the
dream.
One tree can start a forest.
One bird can herald spring.
One smile begins a friendship,
One handclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at
sea,
One word can frame the goal.
One vote can change a
nation,
One sunbeam lights a room.
One candle wipes out dark
ness.
One laugh will conquer
gloom.
One step must start each jour
ney,
Onf , word must start each
prayer.
One hope will raise our spir
its,
One touch can show you care.
One voice can speak with wis
dom.
One heart can know what's
true.
One life can make the differ- r=
ence,
i you see it's up to you!
I One act of kindness has cap
tured the nation's heart. I wonder
I why?
I Nigel Alston is a radio talk
show host, columnist and motiva
; tional speaker. Visit his Web site at
WWW, moth ationalmoments. com.
Fear over Bush and high court '
I Earl Ofari
Hutchinson
Guest
y Columnist
In a recent interview near
octogenarian Chief Justice
William Rehnquist coyly hinted
that he might retire now that
President Bush has the Republi
can majority he needs in the Sen
ate to get more conservative
judges on the federal bench.
Before and during the 2000
presidential election, civil rights
and women's groups repeatedly
warned that Bush would pack the
U.S. Supreme Court with more
conservative judicial hard-liners
such as Rehnquist. Clarence
Thomas and Antonin Scalia.
During the campaign he lavishly
praised them as the judges with
the right judicial stuff. While
Rehnquist may be the first to go,
illness or age could also force
one or more of the other justices
to step down in the next couple of
years.
If Bush demands that his high
court appointees adhere rigidly to
the standard conservative litmus
test, and they are confirmed, they
could wreak colossal damage on
civil rights and civil liberties pro
tections. totally ignore consumer
protections, give away the com
pany store to big business and
fulfill the long cherished dream
of ultrarightists to topple Roe vs.
Wade. A Bush appointee poten
tially could serve decades on the
Supreme Court. Rehnquist has
served on the court for 30 years.
Their decisions would profound
ly influence, for good and bad,
law and politics in America long
after Bush has left the White
House.
But if Bush tries to ram
another Thomas or Scalia onto
the court, there are political risks.
While it takes only a simple
majority in the Senate to confirm
a judge, which Republicans now
have. Democrats would almost
certainly mount a filibuster
against a Thomas or Scalia type.
It would take 60 votes to cut it off
and force a vote. A filibuster
could breathe life back into a
party battered and bruised by the
Bush juggernaut and written off
by many voters as a beaten and
spent party. Even if the Democ
rats lost the fight, they would
send a strong signal that they are
still willing to fight hard for polit
ical and ideological principles.
Civil rights, civil liberties and
women's groups praised them for
their fighting spunk in scuttling,
at least for the time being. U.S.
District Judge Charles Pickering
Sr. and Texas Supreme Court
Justice Priscilla Owen, and
delaying or denying confirmation
hearings to some of Bush's other
nominees. If Bush re-nominates
them in the next Congress, they
will have yet another chance to
rally the troops.
Bush also must be mindful of
the debacle that befell his father
when he picked Thomas to
replace civil rights icon Thur
good Marshall in 1991. It ignited
a national firestorm of protest by
civil rights and women's groups.
During the Senate Judiciary
Committee's confirmation hear
ings. they stormed the Capitol
and demanded that Thomas be
rejected. Their protests stiffened
the spines of committee Democ
rats. who subjected Thomas to
the most intense, and grueling
testimony in living memory.
Although Thomas squeaked
through by a narrow margin in
the Senate, several notable
Republicans broke party ranks to
vote against his nomination.
Bush will be watched even
closer than his father was by civil
rights and women's groups and
many Democrats. Any hint that
he plans to nominate a judicial
partisan would trigger a tidal
wave of national rage, inflame
Democrats outside Congress and
permanently tar Bush as a petty
ideologue more concerned about
advancing a narrow conservative
agenda than building bipartisan
political consensus.
Bush railed against Senate
Democrats for polarizing and
poisoning the atmosphere by
holding his court nominees
hostage. This is hyperbole most
ly for public and political con
sumption. The majority of his
appointees have been approved,
and they have been approved
with no public rancor or bitter
political warfare. They were qui
etly and quickly approved
because they did not fit the doc
trinaire Thomas and Scalia
image. They are moderate
Republicans from varied ethnic
and gender backgrounds.
Senate Democrats also
remind Bush that they have con
firmed more of his court nomi- 1
nees in the past year than Repub
licans did of Clinton's court
nominees in any single year of
Clinton's second White House
term when they controlled the
Senate.
While many of Bush's feder
al court appointees don't fit the
mold of a Thomas or Scalia, this
does not mean that he won't be
sorely tempted to pick judges to
the U.S. Supreme court whose
avowed mission is to torpedo
civil liberties, civil rights and
abortion. Bush will be under *?
monumental pressure from, hard- _
right groups to impose their ret
rograde judicial philosophy con
servative litmus test on his picks.
There's no guarantee that he
will show political good sense
and pick non-agenda obsessed,
moderate judges rather than
another Thomas or Scalia to the
high court. But if he does pick
another one like him. civil rights
and women's groups will stam
pede to the barricades to oppose
him. And hopefully, the top
Democrats will be there with
them.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an
author and columnist. Visit his
news and opinion Web site: 1
wsew.thehutchinsonreport.com. V
file riKHO
President Bush may get an opportunity in the next fwo years
to pick his first Supreme Court nominee.
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