Last week the world of sports lost a hero. Not because of his stellar mascot work at north western or his short time as an all-state high school football player, not for his wacky suits or his incredible interviews. No not even because of his relationship with the Medias worst night mare, Coach Gregg Popovich. The world lost a hero because the man in the wacky suits who lived with more joy than anyone thought was possible in the face of the adversity he faced, died of cancer the bastard that has taken so many other promising colorful life’s from us. This is a love letter to the man in the wacky suit; Craig Sager.
My Relationship with Craig Sager was a unique one like most I knew him from watching the NBA and Gregg Popovich funniest moments clips on YouTube. But I didn’t know who Craig Sager was until his bout with cancer. Sager struck me as the kind of personality that would slowly fade from the sideline and into recovery. Boy was I wrong; the man lived with what can only be described as an elixir of life consisting of color, joy, and optimism. This has all been said of course, but what hasn’t been said is that we can all learn a thing or two from Sager.
Positivity, it is something that in this crazy year that has been 2016 has been lost. From the 12 months of constant mudslinging in our presidential race, to what trickled into the American psyche, the idea that someone who has a different view than you is obviously the enemy. There was no middle ground in 2016 either you were loved and backed or hated and ridiculed. If we let even a little bit of positivity trickle into this crazy backwards upside down year we would be a lot better off now.
Sager showed us that the man even when he looked crippled and dying shown with the radiance of an angel. The man had no quit. He didn’t want people to look at him differently because he had a disease. He didn’t want to show what was wrong with his life he wanted to show how he could still live his life to its fullest potential. That he did and he will be missed.
Rest in Peace Mr. Sager
Love Eric Jensen
