Four years.
George W. Bush. John Kerry. Conservatives. Liberals. Falling asleep. Not knowing. Ohio. Sept. 11. Osama bin Laden. Hiding. Taunting. Weapons of mass destruction. War in Iraq. Protests. Saddam Hussein. Captured. Hanged. Tsunami. Southeast Asia. Whirling walls of water. Civilization erased like chalk from a blackboard. Katrina. New Orleans. Ruptured levees. Drowning homes. Cars like rocks in a river. Trees like floating broccoli. Casualties. Countless casualties. Living. Waiting for relief. For comfort. For solace. “Ignore the bodies; we want the living.” Pope John Paul II. Pope Benedict XVI. Virginia Tech shootings. Weeping. Praying. Questioning.
Distractions. Diversions. Forgetting.
2003 NL Championship Series. Game Six. Wrigley Field. Chicago Cubs. Florida Marlins. Eighth inning. 3-0. Five outs away. 1945. Mark Prior. Three-hit shutout. Luis Castillo. Fly ball to left field. Moises Alou. Leaning. Jumping. Reaching. Pleading for fan interference. Denied. Steve Bartman bathed in beer. Alex Gonzalez. Inning-ending double-play. Tailor-made. Error. Eight unanswered runs. 8-3 defeat. Series tied 3-3. Game Seven. Kerry Wood. 5-3 lead. 9-6 loss. Searching for scapegoats. Bartman? The Billy goat? No. The Chicago Cubs.
Summer Olympics. Athens. United States. 102 medals. 36 gold. 39 silver. 27 bronze.
Brawl at the Palace. 2004. November. Indiana Pacers. Detroit Pistons. Fourth quarter. 97-82. 45.9 seconds left. Pacers winning. Ben Wallace fouled. Shoving Ron Artest. Benches clearing. Artest lying on the scorers’ table. Chairs flung. Order restored. Blue beer cup flung. Chaos. Players attacking fans. Fans attacking players. Police. Pepper spray. Game called. 146 games suspended. “The ugliest scene you’ll ever see.”
World Series. Busch Stadium. Game Four. Ninth inning. 3-0. Edgar Renteria. Keith Foulke. Ground ball. Out. The Red Sox sweeping the Cardinals. 1918. 2004. 86 years. Curse of the Bambino.
World Series. Minute Maid Park. Game Four. Ninth inning. 1-0. Orlando Palmeiro. Bobby Jenks. Ground ball. Out. The White Sox sweeping the Astros. 1919. 2005. 86 years. Curse of the Black Sox. Shoeless Joe.
World Series. Busch Stadium. Game Five. Ninth inning. 4-2. Brandon Inge. Adam Wainwright. Strikeout. Ten World Championships. Most in NL history.
Three Goliaths – North Carolina, Michigan State and Connecticut. One David – George Mason. Final Four.
Adam Morrison crying in his last collegiate game. Before the game was over. J.J. Redick crying because he’s J.J. Redick.
Florida Gator basketball. Billy Donovan. Joakim Noah. Al Horford. Corey Brewer. Taurean Green. Lee Humphrey. Blowing out the Bruins. Twice. Blowing out the Buckeyes. Twice. Back-to-back National Champions. Florida Gator football. Urban Meyer. Chris Leak. Tim Tebow. Blowing out the Buckeyes. Just once. 41-14.
Texas Longhorns. USC Trojans. Mack Brown. Pete Carroll. Vince Young. 3 touchdowns. 467 total yards. 4th and five. Eight-yard line. 19 seconds left. Trailing by four. Scampering right. Touchdown. Scampering left. Two-point conversion. 41-38. The fall of Troy. Matt Leinart waiting to be drafted. Brady Quinn waiting to be drafted. Not drafting Reggie Bush. Mario Williams.
2006 World Cup. Italy. France. Zinedine Zidane head-butting Marco Materazzi. Red card. Walking past the trophy. Penalty kicks. Fabio Grosso. Fourth World Cup Championship.
Peyton Manning’s 49. Eric Gagne’s 84. Kobe Bryant’s 81. Ichiro’s 262. Lance Armstrong’s fourth. And fifth. And sixth. And seventh. Barry Bond’s 715. Sort of.
Steroids. Mark McGwire. Sammy Sosa. Jason Giambi. Rafael Palmeiro. Waving finger. “I have never used steroids. Period.”
A-Rod playing poorly. A-Rod getting booed. A-Rod playing well. A-Rod getting booed.
Tiger Woods being Tiger Woods. Roger Federer being Roger Federer. Terrell Owens being Terrell Owens.
The NHL lockout. No one caring.
LeBron James. Throwback jerseys. Hummers. St. Vincent-St. Mary’s. Crowning the King. Carmelo Anthony. Syracuse. NCAA Most Outstanding Player. Dwayne Wade. Marquette. Final Four. NBA Finals MVP.
Jerome Bettis fumbling. Ben Roethlisberger’s game-saving tackle. Mike Vanderjagt. 46-yard field goal. “He missed it.” Detroit. Super Bowl XL. The Bus rumbles home.
Peyton Manning losing the big game. Peyton Manning losing the big game. Peyton Manning losing the big game. Peyton Manning winning the Super Bowl.
Saying so long. Pete Sampras. Karl Malone. Reggie Miller. Andre Agassi. Eddie Sutton. Tiki Barber. Marshall Faulk. Jeff Bagwell. Drew Bledsoe. Jake Plummer. Not Brett Favre.
Saying goodbye. Dave DeBusschere. Bobby Bonds. Herb Brooks. Warren Spahn. George Mikan. Pat Tillman. Ken Caminiti. Reggie White. Kirby Puckett. Cory Lidle. Red Auerbach. Bo Schembechler. Dennis Johnson. Eddie Robinson. Josh Hancock.
Remembering. Appreciating. Moving forward.
Four years.
Farewell.
