Going The Distance ... Sean Lee

If I were a man of greater wealth, there's a gift I would love to give Sean Lee on the eve of his high school graduation. What is it you ask?

Well, we're both avid baseball fans; he a devotee of the Yankees, my allegiance is closer to home and the Boys in Blue have elated and saddened me for 30 years now. So the perfect gift would be for me to fly the two of us out to New York for a Yankee game in their new $1 Billion stadium. It would be epic.

You may wonder what we'd talk about ... I don't. Sean's the kindof guy I could easily spend an afternoon with and the conversation would probably never slow.

The first inning we'd probably both just sit in awe of the stadium. The single most expensive stadium ever built would deserve an inning of finger pointing and "hey Sean, check that out!"

By the second inning the conversation would move to me playfully mocking his Yankees' absurd spending habits on players. I mean, come on, are these guys really worth all that cash? I might ask. His retort would be - quick wit he, "and how many World Series have your Dodgers won?" Ouch. Good point. Laughter would steal the injury, Sean has made me laugh a lot over the years. The guy is funny.

The third and fourth innings would be consumed with discussion of history and politics. Sean is bright, very perceptive, and was a great US History student for me last year and has sharpened his political observations and perspective. He's a passionate liberal, me a conservative ... you telling me this conversation wouldn't be interesting? Trust me, we've had some good, intellectual discussions which neither side wins. I like that. The banter might drag into the fifth inning.

As we munch on $10 hotdogs, recognizing the junk we're putting in our bellies, the talk would turn to memories of his four years of running. Good memories would consume us, memories of overcoming adversity and injuries and marking a career by one word: Improvement. Or maybe success. Or passion. You choose.

In the sixth and seventh innings, we reminisce about 8 years of Lee kids and parents involved in cross country. First his older brother David ('03), and now Sean, I got the pleasure of coaching the cleanup hitters of the Lee team. David and Sean are the 4th and 5th of five tight-knit siblings well-parented by Dave and Jackie whom I've enjoyed getting to know. A touch of personal sadness would be interrupted by a raucous singing of "Take me out to the ball game".

The game is all knotted up 5-5 by the 8th, and so we just sit back and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of a good baseball game. If you don't like baseball, you wouldn't understand.

Still tied in the ninth, Derek Jeter steps to the plate and "goes yard" to win the game with a walk off. Sean leaps to his feet, spilling his coke. I cheer as well, as Jeter is a Yankee even a Dodger fan can love.

Especially when his hit beats the Angels.

(Last year I wrote about Sean's running accomplishments here)