Magic

Things become round in our home this time of year.  Basketball shapes our schedules.  However, we don't have access to all the local games, sometimes turning to the radio or, as we did last week, finding compelling, related viewing.

Earvin "Magic" Johnson has been in Los Angeles news frequently as a member of (and public face for) the consortium that purchased the Dodgers.  He is also among the group of sports figures commenting on Lakers' (and other) games for ESPN, recently stirring controversy over remarks about coach Mike Brown.  I was not a basketball fan during his championship years, so really only know him from his role as businessman and larger-than-life ex-NBA pro.  My perception was shifted by a documentary called  The Announcement produced by ESPN Films.



Election years heighten my sense of spoken words as hollow and misleading, thought that can be said for non-election years, too.  To see as prominent and idolized a sports figure as Magic Johnson step up and tell the press and the public, extemporaneously, about being diagnosed as HIV-positive with no shirking or tap dancing, though it took place 21 years ago,  seemed to be taking place in an alternate reality.

I will leave you to your own viewing of the film, to your own opinions about the events following The Announcement.  The world of professional sports is filled with cautionary tales and tales of courage.  Sometimes the two intersect.