COLUMN: See America right: Video games touch our lives
Skylar Walker
Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: Sports
There's a pitcher in the Major Leagues who throws the gyroball. He's not Japanese, and he doesn't play for the Boston Red Sox. He's a California-born Texas resident who pitches for the Rangers, and in his spare time coordinates Guitar Hero and Halo tournaments for charity.
In a sports world where the great athletes and bad role models are too often one and the same, C.J. Wilson should stand out in the crowd. I hear too much about the bad guys - the Allen Iversons, Albert Belles and Michael Vicks - and not enough about the good guys.
Despite being one of the most accessible baseball players out there - if you shout, "I'm your friend on MySpace!" during batting practice, he promises to sign for you - Wilson is largely unknown outside of the Rangers fan base.
He is veritably sick versus lefties, notching a 1.71 ERA and miniscule 0.69 WHIP against the group in 2007. He collected 12 saves in 14 opportunities after a trade sent Rangers closer Eric Gagne to Boston. A straight-edge athlete who attends D.A.R.E. graduations and dishes out baseball advice via his MySpace account to curious young ballplayers, Wilson isn't your average Major League southpaw.
He's on a mission to save children with hemophilia from utter boredom; the donations generated from his tournaments help to outfit a video game room for children receiving outpatient treatment at Cook's Children's Hospital. In addition to his charity work, Wilson professes a drug-free lifestyle and recognizes his responsibility as an athlete in the spotlight to be a good role model for kids.
But it's not just young and impressionable minds that need a positive personality to look up to when the airwaves buzz with news of O.J. Simpson's latest antics or Pacman Jones' most recent arrest. The next time you play Guitar Hero or Halo, think about what can be accomplished through those video games with a little extra effort. The next time you scoff at the kid in your 10 a.m. class who says he doesn't drink, think about what that could mean to the kid's younger brother facing the peer pressures of high school for the first time.
Take this as a message brought to you by America's favorite pitcher who admits to throwing a gyroball, "Remember that you affect every person you ever meet, and some you never do."
Reach Skylar at swalker@hillsdale.edu
Visit Wilson's blog at http://cjwilson.mlblogs.com
In a sports world where the great athletes and bad role models are too often one and the same, C.J. Wilson should stand out in the crowd. I hear too much about the bad guys - the Allen Iversons, Albert Belles and Michael Vicks - and not enough about the good guys.
Despite being one of the most accessible baseball players out there - if you shout, "I'm your friend on MySpace!" during batting practice, he promises to sign for you - Wilson is largely unknown outside of the Rangers fan base.
He is veritably sick versus lefties, notching a 1.71 ERA and miniscule 0.69 WHIP against the group in 2007. He collected 12 saves in 14 opportunities after a trade sent Rangers closer Eric Gagne to Boston. A straight-edge athlete who attends D.A.R.E. graduations and dishes out baseball advice via his MySpace account to curious young ballplayers, Wilson isn't your average Major League southpaw.
He's on a mission to save children with hemophilia from utter boredom; the donations generated from his tournaments help to outfit a video game room for children receiving outpatient treatment at Cook's Children's Hospital. In addition to his charity work, Wilson professes a drug-free lifestyle and recognizes his responsibility as an athlete in the spotlight to be a good role model for kids.
But it's not just young and impressionable minds that need a positive personality to look up to when the airwaves buzz with news of O.J. Simpson's latest antics or Pacman Jones' most recent arrest. The next time you play Guitar Hero or Halo, think about what can be accomplished through those video games with a little extra effort. The next time you scoff at the kid in your 10 a.m. class who says he doesn't drink, think about what that could mean to the kid's younger brother facing the peer pressures of high school for the first time.
Take this as a message brought to you by America's favorite pitcher who admits to throwing a gyroball, "Remember that you affect every person you ever meet, and some you never do."
Reach Skylar at swalker@hillsdale.edu
Visit Wilson's blog at http://cjwilson.mlblogs.com
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Free Vick!
posted 2/14/08 @ 1:18 PM EST
Allen Iverson is a bad man?! Albert Belle?! MICHAEL VICK? are we serious... these people are sporing heroes. Leave them alone!!!!! Vick has done so much for football. (Continued…)
Kelly
posted 2/17/08 @ 7:18 PM EST
I think this article is a great reminder to stand up for what you believe in. Just because you are not getting noticed does not mean that you are not making a difference, so next time you are about to give in to something remember this guy and literally dare to make a diffference!
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