Henry Aaron 1934-2021

[ ]I just found out that Henry "Hank" Aaron passed away this past Friday. I'm deeply saddened, and I've never been saddened by the death of a sports star before. I'll go ahead and mention, since I'm a crazy "C" theorist that he died 16 days after getting vacksed, but I'm sure that's merely a coincidence, right? You can bet that little factoid won't be promoted in the mainstream news. [ ]Let's face it...when you boil it down sports is just what they say- a bunch of grown men chasing a ball around, but Hank was so much more than that. Nowadays guys sign mulitmillion dollar contracts right out of school, but for much of Hank's career things were very different, and he probably didn't make much more money than a store clerk or something. It's hard to imagine that any amount of money could be worth all the racial bullshit he and other players of color went through, but it's a testament to his character. He played for the love of the game. [ ]So many "stars" in any genre are just rich, pampered assholes. Not Hank. He never lost his humbleness, and every single time he was interviewed it was clear to see that he was extremely grateful for the good things, and all of these people aren't like that. Plus he was a nice guy. I'm not sure there's ever been a player in history any more loved than Hank. Even people who couldn't care less about sports loved Hank, if nothing else just for the work he did toward building racial equality and such. He was an ambassador for the game, and for humanity in general, and none did it better than he. He quietly but surely led by example. [ ]My dad took me to Braves' games sometimes and I saw Hank play three or four times. Once in the old Fulton County stadium I saw him hit a homer in an exciting game that went 13 innings and was finally won by the Braves at around 1am. Hank hit a ball that went over the leaping left-fielder's glove and bounced off the top of the wall and into the stands. The crowd went wild. I saw him play at Turner Field once I think but I only saw him hit the one dinger. It was great, and I can still picture it clearly. It was nice sharing that with my dad. [ ]All too often we make heroes out of a bunch of jacked-up numbnuts, and in doing so we ignore the true heroes- people who deliver meals to the elderly, those who give of their time to help someone, or a host of other things that actually make a difference in the world, but Hank was worthy of every bit of admiration. He fought through terrible adversity with calmness, dignity and most importantly respect, even when he was shown none of those things, and worse. Hank wasn't a hero...he was a role model. [ ]I should mention Barry Bonds, although I hate to. Bonds eclipsed Hank's home-run record, but it came out later that he was heavily into 'roids, so there will forever be an asterisk after his name. That means it's bullshit. He too was a black man who played baseball, but he was a geeked-up, self-absorbed, cheating, narcissistic prick. Hank wasn't. He probably made fifty times the money that Hank did, and he was a cheater. Tsk-tsk, Mr. Asterisk. You should've at least informally given back the title to its rightful owner. Hank Aaron was a man. Barry Bands...well, maybe not so much. [ ]Thanks Mr. Aaron, for showing us all what humbleness, gratitude and grace under fire look like in person. Thanks for all the knocks. Rest in peace. You've earned it.