Jim McKay 1921-2008

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.
-Plato

Sports and games were, for me (as for many), a place where I learned many of the lessons that formed me. As you can imagine, more than a few of the pivotal moments of my life occured during various Olympics.

For example, 1972 was quite a year.

I was 10 years old.
Mike Spitz was a god in human form.
Olga Korbut was the yin to his yang.
And terrorism was, for Americans anyway, invented.

There was much I didn't understand at 10 years old. But after that Olympics, I understood a few things more clearly.

I understood what perfection looked like.
I understood that the world was a far more complex place that I had ever suspected.
And I understood that Jim McKay handled pressure in a way that few of us can ever hope to.