It was the heartwarming story of the week, the Jason McElwain scroring streak in his high school basketball game. After all, as Madison Avenue and NBC whined that there were no Olympic stars during the winter games, the media NEEDED a triumph of the human spriti story so badly: there was air time to fill. With Joey Cheek playfully scolding the media about failing to cover the suffering in Africa:
“I love what I do,” Cheek said. “It’s a great job. I’ve seen the entire world, and I’ve met amazing friends.
“But honestly, it’s a pretty ridiculous thing. I mean, I skate around the ice in tights, all right? If you keep it in perspective, I’ve trained my whole life for this, but it’s really not that big a deal. But because I’ve skated well, and because I now have 15 seconds of microphone time, I have the ability to raise some awareness and raise some money.”
and Shani Davis refusing to play the dutiful hero athlete for the lazy media, they needed SOME happy story to fill air time.
So young Jason got his Warhollian fifteen minutes. His story had all of the elements. He’s a gung-ho team player. He’s “disadvantaged” by his autism, and “overcame” it. He had a pithy catch phrase (“I was hotter than a pistol!”). I’m sure we are all happy for his moment, his triumph. What, however, does it say about our media, our culture, his school and coach?
Jason, after all, was the team manager. He kept stats, probably gathered towels and water bottles. Anybody who was on a high school sports team remembers a kid like him. Maybe not very athletic, or “challenged” in some way … “mascot” is often a word quietly used for such kids. Someone takes a liking to them, likes their attitude, and gives them a small place on the team. Hell, there was a popular movie made about such a young man, and Adam Sandler got some laughs from the idea. Jason finally got his chance to play on the last game of his high school years, when his team was way ahead. Nothing to lose, so why not give him a chance?
Nothing to lose. That’s why this story bugs me. How many kids, how many people, are left on the bench, or off the team, or left behind in school, because there isn’t a time that comes along when some well-intentioned coach decides there’s nothing to lose by giving them a shot? Worse, how many never have that teacher, that parent, that minister or local activist who finds a time to give them a moment, one bright shining moment, let alone the opportunities to fully develop their talents? Would Jason have repeated this feat many times if his coach had looked beyond his limitations? Would those kids hanging out on the corner have maybe been teachers or engineers or cops or firemen or artists or singers if someone FOUND THE TIME?
This is not to disparage those who do the hard work in our schools, our social service agencies. They are faced by overwhelming odds, supported by underwhelming funding, abandoned by a political culture that offers them only scorn. We waste human potential in this culture the way we waste plastic and time. Then, every-so-often, we are spoon-fed another uplifting story like Jason’s. Everything is just fine, we’re reassured … look at that!
There is within every person, I fully believe, a series of potentials, the basic building blocks for them to be more fulfilled, more engaged. It’s not just SOME who have some hidden super power that awaits A MOMENT, some sword lodged in a stone or a radioactive spider lurking just above our heads. Ordinary people accomplish extraordinary things everyday, yet we leave so many un-taught, un-fed, under-sheltered and neglected. Bravo for Jason. I’m glad he had some people in his life willing to give him opportunities. How about, instead of settling for a STORY about another Jason every once in a while, we start pouring some resources into public education, into children’s health care? How many other heroes-in-the-rough are left to fend for themselves every day in this country?