Joe Posnanski is perhaps my favorite sports writer. Hes probably - TopicsExpress

Joe Posnanski is perhaps my favorite sports writer. Hes probably crossed into the realm of more writer at this point. He was writing in his blog about the anniversary of Pete Roses banishment, which I will not take the time to dwell on here. But inside it was a story that brought home his central theme in this article....forgiveness and how we all have the choice to forgive someone...or not. Its about the wonderful Buck ONeill and I am copying it here, because I think we all can learn a little from his example. The other day, we were talking about Buck O’Neil and his seemingly inexhaustible supply of forgiveness. I told the story again of the time I was with Buck and a wonderful Negro Leagues player from his era. The question of black hotels came up. This other player talked how degrading it was to be turned away from the white hotels. Buck talked about how much better the food was at the black hotels anyway. The other player talked about how these white hotel clerks would make him feel like less than a man. Buck talked about how he would run into Joe Louis or Ella Fitzgerald at the black hotels. The other player talked about the endless and sometimes frightening hours spent looking for places to stay. Buck talked about they could stop in any black neighborhood and be treated like kings. They were talking about exactly the same time, exactly the same experiences, but Buck chose to see it the way he saw it. I use the word purposely: Chose. It wasn’t natural. It wasn’t easy. You don’t think he felt the bitterness of a lifetime being denied? He was turned away from the white high school in Sarasota. He was not allowed to even try and play in the Major Leagues. He was never given the chance to do the baseball thing he was born to do, manage in the Major Leagues – he was passed over again and again for inferior men. [ RELATED: Pete Rose: Im a firm believer that baseball is a better sport if Im in it ] I hear people say, ‘Why should I forgive?” There’s no right answer anyone can give you. Buck CHOSE to see the strides being made. Buck CHOSE to believe in the goodness of people. Buck CHOSE to forgive the people who had treated him cruelly or, worse at times, callously. He remembered that boy in North Dakota, the one who screamed the N word at him from across a street. Buck called that boy over, asked him why he did that, explained to him what that word meant, gave him tickets to the game that night. He CHOSE to forgive because, otherwise, well, he had his reasons. Faith. Hope. The belief that hate eats you from the inside.