David Aldrige's MJ ESPN Article

[Bird33 <ed.boggess@northnap.citynet.net>]

Hey Ritesh. Here's is the David Aldridge article on MJ that you wanted.
Pretty interesting article. I know this is a bit long of an article and hope
that nobody is really fired up over a non Celts one, but here it is for the
ones wanting to read this. You're in BeanTown now baby, BeanTown!!

-Ed "Bird33"

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Let No. 23 step down while he's still No. 1
--------------------------------------------
  FEB. 19, 1998
I could suck up to Michael Jordan like a certain national magazine just did,
boo-hooing and begging him on bended knee to come back next season.

Lord knows everybody wants to see him keep playing. Any parent would want to
take his or her children to an arena where each can point down on the floor
and say, "See him, kids? He's the best ever."

This is how we want to remember Michael Jordan.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

Who doesn't want to hear Pavarotti sing?

Who doesn't want to taste filet mignon?

Who doesn't want to watch Madonna ... well, modesty forbids.

So it is with Michael Jeffrey Jordan, hooper nonpareil.

Except with me.

Just call me Scrooge and hear me out.

This isn't about whether I like watching Jordan play. Having a brain, I love
watching Jordan play -- his swoops and flotations; his basket-hanging and
gravity-defiance.

What I love most about him, though, is his will. It is a will that no other
athlete of this time possesses. It is a will that is indefatigable. It is
made of iron. It is timeless. It was created by the twin peaks of Larry
Bird's and Magic Johnson's greatness. It endures, night after night, town
after town.

After five championships, Michael Jordan is still ready to play every time
the horn sounds. This alone separates him from almost everyone he has ever
played against.

And I want to remember him that way. Jordan is my Ali, my Elvis, my Babe Ruth.

I recall reading what Ossie Davis said at Malcolm X's funeral: Malcolm was
our prince, our shining black manhood.

And when I watch Jordan, I see a proud black man, rising through the heat of
competition to not only survive, but thrive. If there are not obvious
causes, like civil rights, to fight for at the end of the century; if there
are not issues, like Vietnam, on which to take a stand, it is not Jordan's
fault.

I used to think that Jordan had a responsibility to say more about the world
around him, to spend his money on people who couldn't spend it on
themselves. I used to think Jordan should take on political issues like
apartheid abroad and elections at home.

(I still would like to know why Jordan can't get a sneaker made for less
than $100 for city kids who can't buy three and four pair of shoes at once.)

That's how I hope Jordan leaves the stage. Like Jim Brown, on his own terms.
Leaving the rest of us to contemplate his miracle and never witness his
decline.  

With time, though, I've come to think differently. You cannot make anyone
what they don't want to be. Perhaps Jordan is what he said he was when he
came back from baseball: just a basketball player, nothing more. A very rich
one, but nothing more.

And what Jordan wants to do with his time, his money, his heart, is up to
him. He does not owe the rest of the world the benefit of his wisdom. (I'm
not being flip or mean, but he may not have anything much of interest to say
about the rest of the world.)

And so, my interest in Jordan starts and ends on the basketball court.

And I want him to leave.

I do not want to see Jordan at 42, like Willie Mays, seemingly swallowed up
by his Mets uniform, feeble and unable to hit pitchers he would have brained
two decades before.

I do not want to see Jordan like Elvis, bloated in a ridiculous spandex
jumpsuit, forgetting the words to the songs that made him famous.

I do not want to see Jordan like Ali, against Larry Holmes, incapable of
defending himself, taking punches that would take a terrible toll on him
later in his life.

I do not want to see Jordan in Charlotte teal, or Laker blue, or any other
color than the one that is rightly his.

I don't want to see Jordan replaced in the starting lineup by some punk
who's currently in junior high school. I don't want to see him begin to pile
up DNP-CDs.

Jordan is still at the top of his form, still the best, at 35. In all
likelihood, his Bulls will win a sixth championship since 1991 if they can
stay healthy and interested. And that's how I hope Jordan leaves the stage.
Like Jim Brown, on his own terms. Leaving the rest of us to contemplate his
miracle and never witness his decline.

It's not about whether Jordan should bag it.

It's about how he bids us adieu.

This is selfish of me, because there are kids who still haven't seen him
play in person.

And this is why they have Classic Sports Network. By ESPN. (Gratuitous,
synergistic company plug! Doesn't it just make you ill?)
 
>Date: Sat, 21 Feb 1998 12:02:51 -0500
>From: ramani_rite@lnmta.bentley.edu
>Subject: Unrelated
>
>If anyone has an account with ESPN, can you please post the article, why
>David Aldridge thinks MJ should retire now?
>I appreciate it.
>
>Ritesh Ramani